Local prescription roundup all about prevention
Hatters were urged to do just a little more spring cleaning Saturday.
The Medicine Hat Police Service and London Drugs teamed up to hold a Prescription Drug Roundup Saturday morning in front of the store, in an attempt to get old, unused prescription drugs where they belong, said Sgt. Mike Fischer.
“We’re out here today collecting pills and over-the-counter items to keep them out of the wrong places,” he said. “We really want to get rid of these things while we can, rather than them ending up in kids’ hands, or in our ecosystem.”
Fischer said the two groups have worked together to eliminate old pills in the community for more than five years, and encourages everyone to do so in a proper manner.
“There are many things that can go wrong with old pills and we just want to prevent all of them,” he said. “Cleaning out the cabinet is a pretty easy thing to do and won’t take very long. Keeping the pills out of the wrong set of hands is the goal here.”
London Drugs store manager Greg Whelpley said the store offers this service every day it is open, but still will continue to do events like this one to get the word out.
“Some people really just don’t know what to do with an old pill bottle they end up finding,” he said. “A lot of the time they will end up just dropping them down the sink or flushing them, and we feel the education on the matter is important — this is why we team up with the Medicine Hat Police.”
Whelpley said people are free to drop off old, unwanted drugs and needles at the London Drugs pharmacy at any time. The items are set to Edmonton, where they are incinerated.
“It’s just a good neighbour thing for us,” he said. “We have the means to do something like this, so we choose to help out.”
Fischer said by the end of the day, the group will have gathered around three, five-litre pales full of old pills and over-the-counter medications.