CCPD to accept medications needing disposal

Apr 22, 2021 By CJ HADDAD 3 min read

Have any over-the-counter medication or prescriptions that are going unused or have expired?

The Cape Coral Police Department this Saturday will collect and dispose of medications as part of National Take Back Drug Day. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the department’s headquarters, residents can drop off expired and unused pills and capsules, patches, over the counter medication and vaping devices (battery must be removed).

“Drug drop-off/collection is actually something available year-round in our police station lobby,” said CCPD Master Corporal Philip Mullen. “Discarding prescription medication in this manner prevents it from finding its way into the wrong hands or into any water supply.”

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day addresses what experts call a crucial public safety and public health issue. According to the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 9.9 million Americans misused controlled prescription drugs. The study showed that a majority of abused prescription drugs were obtained from family and friends — often from the home medicine cabinet.

According to the “Lock Your Meds” campaign via the National Family Partnership, 53% of people 12 and older who abuse prescription drugs get them from family or friends.

“Medication should be locked,” said Deborah Comella, executive director of The Lee County Coalition for the Drug-Free Southwest Florida. “This does not have to be fancy, for example, some inexpensive camera cases have locks. Not for nothing, if evacuation is needed during a hurricane, it makes it easy to grab necessary medication.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also showed an increase of misuse of prescription medications and drug overdose deaths over the course of the ongoing pandemic.

CDC data shows that at least 87,000 deaths via drug overdose were reported from October of 2019 to September of 2020, a 29% increase from 2018 to 2019.

Some residents may unknowingly do damage to the ecosystem by “flushing” their meds, which can potentially impair local waterways, officials said.

“Living where we do, flushing medications is very harmful to our water table and water resources that we value so much,” Comella said.

The police department added, “Water quality experts and environmental advocates are increasingly concerned about chemicals from prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications that get into our waterways.”

CCPD will not be collecting illegal drugs, syringes, or liquid medications (including vape liquids).

So, what does CCPD do with what they’ve collected?

“Just as we do with the medications discarded in our lobby lockbox, the collected medication is weighed — similarly to evidence — entered as discarded property and destroyed in a safe manner,” Mullen said.

Other year-round drug drop-off locations include:

– Lee County Sheriff’s Offices (Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.)

– Fort Myers Police Department (Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.)

– Walgreens at 805 Cape Coral Drive East, Cape Coral

– Walgreens at 12749 S. Cleveland Ave., Fort Myers

– Walgreens at 4204 Palm Beach Road, Fort Myers

The Cape Coral Police Department is at 1100 Cultural Park Blvd.

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To reach CJ HADDAD, please email cjhaddad@breezenewspapers.com