Allegany County, NY, residents will have an opportunity tomorrow to join many others throughout the nation in helping to get unused prescription drugs off the street and out of the hands of drug abusers, children and public water supplies.
The Allegany County Sheriff’s Office NY is hosting its biannual Prescription Drug Take Back Day from 10AM to 2PM Saturday, October 29, at the Angelica Fire and Rescue station, 85 West Main Street, and Cuba Fire Department, 51 East Main Street.
Officers will be on hand at the two locations to receive no-questions-asked unused prescription drugs as part of the national Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) event.
Individuals are encouraged to take part in this national effort to keep unused prescription drugs out of the hands of unauthorized individuals who often take them from home drawers and medicine chests, children who can swallow and overdose if they happen to discover them unattended, and public water supplies through flushing of unused medicines.
Individuals and organizations also can become advocates for this initiative by letting others know about the national searchable database for event locations at https://bit.ly/3lEZE1B.
Additional sites
Three sites in Wyoming County and two in Cattaraugus are joining in accepting unused drugs. No locations are listed in Steuben and Livingston counties, or neighboring Potter or McKean counties in Pennsylvania.
The Allegany County Sheriff’s Office NY will be assisted by Partners for Prevention in Allegany County (Ppac Central) and the Allegany Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse in the local initiative.
Last fall, 30 drop-offs at the Angelica and Cuba locations netted 61.8 pounds of unused prescriptions, with one in April at Wellville and Canaseraga resulting in 53 responses and 109.2 pounds.
Year-around disposal
In addition to the Take Back Days, 12 Pill Drop Boxes are located in various parts of the county year-around, including:
– Alfred: Alfred Pharmacy, 36 North Main Street, and NYS University Police at Alfred State College, 10 Upper College Drive, in the Theta Gamma House.
– Andover: Jones Memorial Hospital Medical Practice, 20 Main Street.
– Belmont: Allegany County Sheriff’s Office NY, 4884 State Route 19-South, and NicholsonPharmacy Giftt, 36 Schuyler Street (State Route 19)
– Bolivar: Jones Memorial Hospital Medical Practice, 120 1st Street
– Canaseraga: Tri-County Family Medicine, 12 North Church Street.
– Cuba: Cuba Police Department, 15 Water Street.
– Fillmore: Fillmore Pharmacy, 10560 State Route 19-South.
– Friendship: Friendship Pharmacy, 9 West Main Street.
– Wellsville: Jones Memorial Hospital, 191 North Main Street, and the Wellsville N.Y. Police Department, 46 South Main Street.
Sharps disposal
Allegany also is one of only two counties in the state for disposal of sharps needles at refuse disposal sites, with drop boxes for those at the Alfred, Bellmont, Bolivar, Caneadea, Canaseraga, Cuba/Friendship, and Wellsville landfill transfer locations.
Used sharps should be placed in a sealable container, with the entire container dropped into the sharps drop box at the transfer station. They should not be placed in the community pill drop boxes.
An incomplete state Department of Environmental Conservation map of pill drop boxes in the state is available at https://on.ny.gov/2Rib1ku. A similar map for Pennsylvania is available at https://bit.ly/3a5aCbE.
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