Peninsula residents turn in unused drugs in take-back day
Published 12:01 am Wednesday, May 2, 2012
North Olympic Peninsula residents returned an estimated 245 pounds of unused prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications during the fourth annual National Drug Take-Back Day on Saturday.
Clallam County residents brought back about 200 pounds of unused drugs, said Jim Borte, county Sheriff’s Office spokesman and coordinator of the project.
Port Townsend residents returned about 45 pounds, said Sgt. Ed Green of the city Police Department.
Uniformed officers were at Jim’s Pharmacy, 424 E. Second St. in Port Angeles; the Sequim Police Department, 325 N. Fifth Ave.; and the Port Townsend Safeway at 442 W. Sims Way to collect unused drugs Saturday.
Jefferson County Sheriff Tony Hernandez said his office did not participate in the Saturday event.
Like the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office and the Forks, Port Angeles, Sequim and Port Townsend police departments, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office accepts unused drugs during business hours Monday through Friday each week.
Prescription drugs also can be returned to Jim’s Pharmacy, Borte said.
There is no identification or personal information required in order to participate.
The pharmaceutical drugs, including highly addictive narcotic painkillers, are taken to an Environmental Protection Agency-approved incinerator in Spokane, where law enforcement officials destroy the drugs they seize on the street.
The national day Saturday was sponsored by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency.
On the Peninsula, it also was sponsored by the Port Angeles, Sequim and Port Townsend police departments, as well as Jim’s Pharmacy in Port Angeles and Safeway in Port Townsend.
“We appreciated the continued support of local residents for helping to keep expired or unwanted prescription drugs out of the hands of citizens and from polluting our environment,” said Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict.
Illegal use
Benedict said prescription drugs often are a target of criminals who either use the drugs or sell them on the black market.
The illegal misuse of prescription drugs by anyone other than the designated patient is a serious criminal offense, he added, and can lead to deadly overdoses, serious health problems and motor vehicle crashes.
Flushing prescription drugs or over-the-counter medications down a toilet or drain, as well as disposing of such drugs in household trash, can harm people, animals and the environment, Benedict said.
