How proper drug disposal helps keep our environment and community safe

HEYBURN, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — It’s important to properly dispose unused prescription drugs and not just throw them away. KMVT spoke with local law enforcement on National Prescription Drug Take Back Day to get details on this year’s community engagement with the event, and how improper disposal can affect our environment.

“A lot of people don’t realize the dangers they have with having a surgery and having unused medication-- having that unsecured in a house,” said Charles Cox.

Charles Cox is a lieutenant at the Hailey Police Department. He says the department collected a little over seven pounds of prescription drugs from the community for National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Cox says, besides today, the police has had a good turn around within the last year on getting the community involved in propter drug disposal.

“We’re close to 200 pounds of drugs from just this year,” said Cox.

According to South Central Public Health District, in 2023 over 2.5 million controlled substance prescriptions were dispended in Idaho. And when that medication is left to sit in a cabinet, or is thrown away or flushed away, it can become a hazard to animals, the environment, and people.

“In the past we’ve had people who would take these drugs and sadly flush them down the toilet, not realizing its a potential contamination to our water treatment plants,” said Ryan Bertalotto.

Ryan Bertalotto is the chief of the Heyburn Police Department. He says this is the second year that his department participated in this event.

“We want to encourage this event, even though it’s in Heyburn, we’re still apart of the central Mini-Cassia community, so if you live in burley, if you live in Declo, Rupert, Paul, you’re still welcome to come drop off these medications,” said Bertalotto.

Other drop-offs that are available this weekend and year-round includes the Jerome County sheriff’s office, the Gooding sheriff’s office and the Kimberly police department. Once substances are collected, law enforcement weighs everything and then ships them off to the Drug Enforcement Administration in Jerome.

“We mail them back to the DEA and they dispose of them correctly usually with incineration and other processes,” said Cox.

Copyright 2024 KMVT. All rights reserved.