Safe Option for Disposal of Unused Medicines

LEWIS COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES AND SHERIFF’S OFFICE PARTNER TO PROVIDE RESIDENTS A SAFE OPTION FOR DISPOSAL OF UNUSED MEDICINES

Lewis County Public Health & Social Services, in partnership with the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, Morton Police Department and Centralia Police Department, have developed a prescription drug disposal program for Lewis County.

The goals of this program are to offer safe and anonymous disposal of unused or unwanted prescription medications, and to reduce the potential for medications to fall into the hands of children and teenagers, or adults who may misuse them.

Additionally, this important program will help protect our environment and drinking water supply as people will no longer need to flush unused medicine down the toilet or put them in the garbage.

Thanks to funding from Northwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking (NW HIDTA), we were able to purchase four secure disposal bins. The bins will be located throughout the county at monitored and protected disposal locations. The locations are:

• Lewis County Law & Justice Center (inside) 345 W. Main Street, Chehalis
• Centralia Police Department (outside) 316 N. Pearl Street, Centralia
• Morton Police Department (outside) 260 Main Street, Morton
• Sheriff’s Office Packwood Substation (inside) 12990 US Highway 12, Packwood

Many citizens aren’t aware of their options for the disposal of unused medicines, and sometimes dispose of them improperly or leave them sitting in cabinets and drawers. Ideally, pharmaceutical manufacturers would provide and fund unused medicine return programs across the country. Unfortunately, such programs are rare.

In Washington there are only six other counties (Kitsap, King, Thurston, Pierce, Snohomish, and Spokane) with unused medicine return programs. Lewis County Public Health & Social Services and the Sheriff’s Office is proud of this program and hopes the citizens of Lewis County will take full advantage of the ability to safely dispose of their medications.

For more information, call Lewis County Public Health & Social Services: 360-740-1223.

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