MPD provides service to dispose of perscription medications
Sept. 29 was the National Prescriptive Drug Take Back Initiative, a day dedicated to having people turn in prescription medicines they do not use any more so the medicine can be properly disposed of, said Moscow Police Officer Phil Gray.
It is important to properly dispose of perscription drugs so other people will not use them, Gray said.
Also, Gray said that disposing of drugs properly helps with the environmental impact they have.
“We don’t want people to flush them down the toilet and harm the water supply,” he said.
After people dropped off the prescription drugs at the Palouse Empire Mall, the police packaged them up and sent them to Spokane for proper disposal.
They accepted everything except liquids and syringes. The liquids can be disposed of in kitty litter, Gray said, while Latah Sanitation accepts syringes and needles if properly labeled.
Gray said that they were not as successful as they hoped in the amount of prescription drugs that were dropped off.
“We received 10 to 15 pounds.” he said. “Which seems like a lot, but it isn’t.”
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, the nation collected 276 tons of prescription drugs on April 28.
Gray said one of the reasons the amount of drugs collected fell was because they have a year-round drop off station in the police department’s lobby.
He said anyone can come into the lobby from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, to drop off their unwanted prescription drugs.
He said next year they might plan to have the drop off at the police station for the national day, so an officer isn’t sitting around for three hours with nothing to do.
Allison Griffith can be reached at arg-news.uidaho.edu