Four Marion County groups organize Medication Disposal Day

The Marion Star | August 23, 2010
By Jessica Cuffman

Four local agencies with different interests but a common mission have collaborated to organize a Medication Disposal Day to get unused drugs of all kinds out of homes and off of the streets properly and safely.

Partnering with other organizations and sponsors to host the event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 25 at the Marion County Building, each of the agencies involved in planning the prescription drop off was considering the idea before they came together.

The Crawford-Marion Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board, Marion County Recycling and Litter Prevention, Marion General Hospital and MARMET Drug Task Force are collaborating on the effort with related organizations.

Jody Demo-Hodgins, executive director of the ADAMH Board, said she heard Angela Carbetta talking on the radio one day about recycling and the hazardous waste days and how important it is to get things such as unused medication out of people’s homes.

“As soon as I heard that, we’ve been talking about doing this and trying to figure out what the rules are. So I left a message at her office,” she said.

Demo-Hodgins is focused on battling addiction and Carbetta on keeping medication from being improperly disposed into the water supply as director of county recycling and litter prevention.

Maj. Aaron Corwin of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and MARMET supervisor wants the drugs off the streets and Dan Sheridan, a pharmacist at Marion General Hospital, is interested in each of those factions.

All four, and many organizers, want a safer, healthier community.

“I’m helping to get it set up because it’s something that I believe in and the hospital believes in,” Sheridan said. “A lot of the medications, studies have come out showing that they’re dangerous in the water supply, for all of use. It affects wildlife. I saw a study that shows the fertility rate in people may be affected by some medications.”

“We also see a lot of patients come into the hospital or the emergency room in trouble because of it,” he said. “We want to help protect the people in the community.”

The sheriff’s office was considering running its own drop-off day, but heard about this one happening and decided to join the effort, Corwin said.

“Then we found out the DEA was having a National Take-back Day and the process for us to get on board with them was easier than doing it on our own,” he said.

The Drug Enforcement Administration will collect medications at similar events across the country that day.

“They regulate it and for us to do it on our own, we would have had to get approval,” he said.

While the DEA will collect only pills for disposal, locally, the drop-off will take any type of liquid medication or illegal narcotics as well – no questions asked, Crowin said.

“If we can get them off the street, we’ll take them,” he said. “If they just want to dispose of them, by all means, we’ll take it and destroy it for them.”

Law enforcement officers, mainly MARMET detectives, will be on hand to physically handle the drugs with assistance from police and deputy sheriffs as needed.

Carbetta said plans are for the drop-off point to be clearly marked at the north end of the parking lot with a convenient drive-through that will be clearly marked for residents who attend.

“The drugs will be incinerated, no questions asked, and all the containers will be recycled,” she said.

By disposing of the medication properly, it keeps it from being disposed another way or being used improperly.

“As the whole heroin issue goes, a lot of the genesis of the problem starts with people using prescription drugs. They’re prescribed legally and didn’t get used. We all took a look at our own cabinets and saw what over-the-counter and prescription drugs we can get rid of,” Demo-Hodgins said.

Some details of the event still need to be worked out, but it’s rolling forward with cooperation from several area agencies.

“Everybody can start cleaning out your cabinets. Toddlers can overdose, keep teenagers from becoming addicted and keep ground water from being contaminated,” Carbetta said.