DeSoto Times-Tribune
Retailer adds medication drop-off box
By Bob Bakken
DeSoto County is now a home for a program undertaken by two companies in Mississippi to fight an escalating drug and opioid problem.
In a collaboration between Walgreens and AmerisourceBergen, 11 Safe Medication Disposal boxes have been placed inside Walgreens Mississippi locations. They are a place for people to leave unused or outdated prescriptions and over-the-counter medications securely to be properly disposed of.
Walgreens is one of the leading prescription drug retailers in the country. AmerisourceBergen is an American drug wholesale firm and has a distribution center in Olive Branch.
Companies partnering with Walgreens in other parts of the country in the program are Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Pfizer and Prime Therapeutics. A total of 1,500 kiosks have been placed in selected Walgreens locations nationwide where regulations allow them.
The newest drop-off box in the state, located inside the Walgreens store at 6958 Goodman Road in Olive Branch, was unveiled in the presence of Mississippi U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, Mississippi Highway Patrol Lt. Col. Thomas Tuggle, state Bureau of Narcotics Director John Dowdy, local Walgreens official Michael Carralero, Shawn McGuire with AmerisourceBergen, and local officials.
While the Olive Branch location is the first in DeSoto County, there are six additional sites in Shelby County, Tennessee, in addition to the 10 others in Mississippi.
Described as being akin to dropping off a letter in a mailbox, people can stop in at Walgreens, where the box is located near the pharmacy counter, and simply drop whatever drugs that need to be disposed of inside.
Items that are accepted include prescription medications, ointments and patches, over-the-counter (OTC) medications, ointments, lotions and liquids, pet medications and vitamins.
Those items that are restricted include needles, inhalers and thermometers, aerosol cans, hydrogen peroxide containers and illegal drugs.
Once the drugs are placed in the box, Walgreens works with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and its approved vendor to collect and dispose of the drugs. A dual-key system is used to properly collect and remove the drugs from the box to prevent theft.
“Since its launch in February 2016, Walgreens has been inspired by the response of the Safe Medication Disposal program,” said Carralaro, Walgreens Director of Pharmacy and Retail Operations in the greater Memphis-Mid-South area. “We have collected more than 270 tons of unwanted medications from more than 1,000 kiosks across the country. This tells us that there is a demand for a safe and convenient way to dispose of medications.”
In her remarks, Hyde-Smith said that unsecured prescription drugs are contributing to the opioid epidemic problem in Mississippi. A total of 3.3 million opioid prescriptions were dispensed in the Magnolia State last year.
“Every drug we take back and turn in at one of these boxes is another drug out of the reach of our children,” Hyde-Smith pointed out. “Studies show that children obtain many of these drugs from the home medicine cabinets of family and friends.”
Dowdy said the fight against opioids in Mississippi is seeing some success.
“We have made a tremendous amount of progress in the last 18 months,” Dowdy said. “Our prescribing numbers are continuing to go down. The more opportunities that folks have to be able to get rid of unused medications means one less teenager or young adult has access to those drugs.”
Adding their support to the program were DeSoto County Supervisor Lee Caldwell and state Sen. David Parker (R-Olive Branch).
“Unfortunately, we are number one in the state for opioid deaths,” Caldwell said. “Any measure we can take to help stop that is a huge feather in our cap for DeSoto County.”
“I think a program like this that allows us to put in a place where people can respectfully dispose of something that they no longer have a need for is a great thing,” Parker added.