Press release:
On Saturday, Oct. 26, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Genesee County law enforcement agencies and the Drug Enforcement Administration will give the public an opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.
Accepted this year will be pills; other solids such as patches; needles or other sharps; and vape pens and cartridges (no lithium batteries). If lithium batteries cannot be removed, the DEA advises people to find places that recycle lithium ion batteries. Liquids are also not accepted.
These can all be brought to the collection sites below for disposal:
- Pembroke Town Hall, routes 5 at 77, Pembroke -- items to be received by Genesee County Sheriff’s deputies;
- Batavia Police Department Headquarters, 10 W. Main St. (rear parking lot), Batavia -- items to be received by Batavia police officers
- Le Roy Police Department Headquarters, 3 W. Main St., Le Roy -- items to be received by Village of Le Roy police officers
The service is free and anonymous; no questions asked.
(The Batavia Police Department would also like to remind citizens of the drug and sharps drop boxes that are available 24/7 in the rear vestibule at BPD HQ.)
This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse.
Rates of prescription drug abuse in the United States are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows year after year that the majority of misused and abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including someone else’s medication being stolen from the home medicine cabinet.
In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety, health and environmental hazards.
