Oregon keeping prescriptions drugs off streets, out of environment

WINSTON, Ore. – Without one raid, the Winston Police Department has taken many drugs off the street.

The southwest Oregon community recently became the first in Douglas County to start an unused pharmaceutical take-back program. To keep prescription drugs away from teens and the water supply, residents are asked to check their medicine cabinets and drop off any unused pills at the police department.

Police Chief Scott Gugel said it's only been a month, but the department in the town of about 5,000 people has already accepted enough medication containers to fill a 55-gallon trash bag and enough multicolored pills to fill a 2 1/2-gallon bucket.

"It's been pretty much the gamut," Gugel told the News-Review newspaper of Roseburg. "Everything from Oxycodone, Vicodin, antibiotics – pretty much everything.

Gugel, who has yet to settle on a way of getting rid of the unwanted pills, said he thinks the program will reduce the number of pill-popping teens.

"We've already taken several cases of kids getting into relatives' cabinets and taking those drugs, and we're just trying to lessen the availability of that," he said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Environmental Quality and others are focused on keeping the pills out of the water supply.

The Associated Press reported in March that trace concentrations of pharmaceuticals have been detected in drinking water systems for 24 major U.S. metropolitan areas, affecting 41 million Americans. For some, the bigger concern is the effect on fish.

Abby Boudouris, the household hazardous waste coordinator for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, said the agency is part of a group proposing a statewide pharmaceutical take-back program.

The program would involve pharmaceutical manufacturers and over-the-counter drug companies implementing a program for people to dispose of unwanted medicine. The group has explored the possibility of prepaid, mail-in envelopes and drop boxes at law enforcement agencies and pharmacies.

Boudouris said the group is pushing for a bill to be introduced during the 2009 legislative session.

The group, led by the Oregon Association of Clean Waters Agencies, has been studying the disposal of unused drugs in Oregon. According to the ACWA Web site, estimates show 1 million prescriptions are filled but unused annually in Oregon. Some of those pills are simply flushed down the toilet.

"There is not good data to determine the percentage of pharmaceuticals in the water," Boudouris said. "We don't know yet what percentage is coming from excretion and what percentage is coming from disposal, but we can stop improper disposal."

–––

Information from: The News-Review, http://www.oregonnews.com