The Columbus Police Department announced Wednesday that it has been awarded a grant from CVS/pharmacy to install a drug collection unit. The new unit will be located at the Columbus Police Department, 117 Walker St., Columbus, and will provide residents with a safe and environmentally responsible way to dispose of unwanted, unused or expired medication, including controlled substances.

 

The new unit is intended to reduce the amount of unneeded medicine in residents’

homes and decrease prescription drug abuse, which has soared in recent years,

especially among teenagers. More than 70 percent of teenagers say it is easy to get

prescription drugs from their parents’ medicine cabinets, according to a 2014

Partnership for Drug-Free Kids study.

 

The new unit will also help Columbus prevent the contamination of local landfills and water supplies from unused medication.

 

“Safely disposing of unused medication is critical to protecting our children and our

environment,” said Police Chief Chris Beddingfield. “Columbus is proud to partner with CVS/pharmacy and we thank them for their commitment to help residents reduce the amount of unneeded medicine in our community.”

 

The new Drug Collection Unit represents one of 1,000 units CVS/pharmacy and The

Medicine Abuse Project (MAP), a five-year initiative of The Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, are providing across the country. This innovative donation program is the largest retail pharmacy effort of its kind to date and supports MAP’s goal to prevent a half million teenagers from abusing prescription medication by the year 2017.

CVS/pharmacy is the sole retail pharmacy sponsor of this program, which builds on the company’s Medication Disposal for Safer Communities Program.

“CVS/pharmacy is dedicated to collaborating with organizations like The Partnership for Drug-Free Kids and local law enforcement to prevent the abuse of unwanted and expired medication,” said Josh Flum, Senior Vice President of Retail Pharmacy at CVS Health. “The installment of drug collection receptacles is part of our ongoing commitment to battle prescription drug abuse in the U.S. and to help people in the communities we serve on their path to better health.”

CVS/pharmacy also assists law enforcement by supporting local drug take back events and promoting local drug disposal collection sites. CVS/pharmacy has conducted drug collection campaigns utilizing their retail locations, including several National Drug Take Back Day events. Law enforcement agencies which operate their own on-going collection site programs can also arrange to have the address and hours of their operations posted in local CVS/pharmacy stores.

The Columbus Police Department’s new drug collection unit site is open to the public from the hours of 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday and drugs can be dropped off with no questions asked. Columbus residents and CVS/pharmacy customers can also inquire about the Medication Disposal for Safer Communities Program at the toll free phone number 1-866-559-8830 or visit www.cvs.com/safercommunities.