PORT ANGELES — Check that medicine cabinet and mark your calendars for Saturday, Sept. 25.
Unwanted prescription pills — including controlled substances — can be dropped off for free at Jim’s Pharmacy in Port Angeles or Frick Rexall Drugs in Sequim as part of a one-day, nationwide effort to curb prescription drug abuse, theft and water pollution.
“I’m suspecting we will have a significant amount of drugs that will be turned in that day,” said Ron Peregrin, Clallam County undersheriff.
Uniformed officers will staff Jim’s Pharmacy, 424 E. Second St., and Frick Rexall Drugs, 609 Sequim Village Center, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
They will accept all forms of prescription drugs.
Controlled substances
“The difference between this day and our regular medicine take-back is that people will be able to bring back any medication, including controlled substances,” said Joe Cammack, owner of Jim’s Pharmacy.
While the two pharmacies already have a drug take-back program for non-controlled substances, the DEA requires a deputized officer to accept unused controlled prescription drugs, defined as schedule 2 though 5 in the Controlled Substances Act.
More than 2,700 pharmacies and other sites across the country have joined the DEA’s inaugural drug return campaign since it was announced Aug. 19.
Peregrin said prescription pills also can be turned in at the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office lobby at the county courthouse at 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles, on Sept. 25.
The Sheriff’s Office accepts unwanted or expired drugs on weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. The drugs are destroyed in an incinerator in Spokane.
“The DEA told us they would collect all of our drugs [from Sept. 25],” Peregrin said.
“Normally, we have to haul them to Spokane to dispose of them.”
The first batch of drugs that Clallam County destroyed, most of which were deposited at the drop boxes at Frick’s and Jim’s pharmacies, weighed 475 pounds.
“I think we’ve already shown here locally that the program is a success,” Peregrin said.
Unused drugs can end up in the wrong hands or harm the environment, Peregrin said.
He said prescription drugs can enter the water table from septic or sewer systems, or seep into the groundwater from a landfill, and cause environmental damage.
Jefferson County
Jefferson County Sheriff Tony Hernandez said his department will not participate in the one-day, DEA effort.
However, a substance abuse advisory committee in Jefferson County is forming a permanent drug take-back program.
Beginning in about a month, a secured drop box will be placed in the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the Port Townsend Police Department, where all forms of prescription medication can be discarded.
“We created a sustained drug take-back program,” Hernandez said.
Last summer, Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict developed a drug take-back program that involved deputizing pharmacists at Jim’s Pharmacy and Frick Rexall Drugs to accept controlled substances.
The DEA, however, halted the pilot project last September.
Pending legislation in Congress could bring it back, Peregrin said.
Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. — and the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs — are on the rise, according to the DEA.
“The National Prescription Drug Take-Back campaign will provide a safe way for Americans to dispose of their unwanted prescription drugs,” said Michele M. Leonhart, acting administrator of the DEA, in a statement.
“This effort symbolizes DEA’s commitment to halting the disturbing rise in addiction caused by their misuse and abuse.”
Gil Kerlikowske, director of National Drug Control Policy and former Seattle police chief, said:
“Prescription drug abuse is the nation’s fastest-growing drug problem, and take-back events like this one are an indispensable tool for reducing the threat that the diversion and abuse of these drugs pose to public health.
“The federal, state and local collaboration represented in this initiative is key in our national efforts to reduce pharmaceutical drug diversion and abuse.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
