Safe disposal takes drugs off the street
After $15,000 worth of potentially dangerous narcotics were taken out of circulation in April during a Crime Stoppers Take Back Your Drugs Day, organizers collected $10,000 more on Sunday, Sept. 23.
From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Crime Stoppers hosted its second Take Back Your Drugs Day, giving the public the opportunity to safely and securely dispose of pharmaceuticals.
Police officers and Ziter Pharmacy employees spent the day in the Devonshire Mall parking lot collecting and categorizing old, unwanted medication.
“The medication is not being put in the garbage, it’s not being flushed down the toilet. It’s being properly disposed of and it’s not getting in the hands of the wrong people — especially the narcotics,” Windsor police Det. Tim Murphy said while guiding cars and collecting plastic bags filled with bottles of pills and creams.
Murphy said 76 pounds of over-the-counter medication, 56 pounds of prescription drugs, and seven pounds of narcotics, with a total street value of up to $10,000, was collected.
Murphy, a Crime Stoppers police co-ordinator, said the organization was inspired by the recent success of prescription take-back days held by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration.
Last April, U.S. citizens turned in 552,161 pounds of unwanted or expired medications for safe and proper disposal at 5,659 take-back sites available in all states and U.S. territories, said a statement by the DEA.
To date, the DEA and affiliates have removed more than 1.5 million pounds of medication from circulation.
“There are a lot of seniors and people in our community who have medicine cabinets full of expired medication,” Murphy said.
Volunteers were also shredding documents on site for a $5 donation per box. Murphy said the $400 raised from donations will help fund Crime Stoppers and solve local crimes.
He said it’s important for people to properly dispose of personal information.