ALTON - A month into Alton's pharmaceutical drop-off program, police have filled five, 30-gallon bags of drugs that people have dropped off, which now await incineration.
"It has exceeded our expectations; we've been overwhelmed with activity," Alton Police Chief David Hayes said. "It's a good thing, but it has been more labor-intensive than we anticipated."
Adding to the bulk is that people drop off the medications in containers.
Police empty the drop-off box, which resembles a mailbox, about every three days, he said. So many people have brought in outdated or unwanted pills and capsules on weekends that the box fills to the point it cannot be opened some Monday mornings.
"It has been very successful," he said.
Hayes said that of all of the quantity of drugs deposited, none is an illegal substance, although the process is anonymous.
The box was installed in the lobby of the Donald E. Sandidge Alton Law Enforcement Center late in the third week of September, with a kick-off ceremony following on Sept. 28.
The project, initiated by Illinois-American Water, is a collaboration among the water company, Alton Police Department, Alton Mayor Tom Hoechst and LeClaire Family Pharmacy (formerly Massey Pharmacy) of Alton.
Karen Cotton, spokeswoman for Illinois-American offices in Peoria, said the Alton program got a strong start, which continues.
"It's very busy. We have a lot of programs that start out like this but slow down," she said. "Alton is taking awhile to taper down; it's still going strong."
She said another drop-off box, which opened July 1 in Waterloo, also continues steadily collecting large amounts of unwanted drugs.
She said people often will black out their names and type of medication on canister labels, which is not an issue because the containers and their contents all are incinerated.
"We are trying to find a program to donate vials that would be used in Haiti and Africa to hand out medications," Cotton said. "In Africa, it would be used to give out medications to AIDS patients every day. If they give them a week's worth of medicine, they have found the people will take all the pills at once.
"We are in the beginning stages," she said.
If that alliance does not happen, Cotton said the company may seek ways to recycle the plastic containers.
The water company's motivation is to keep people from flushing medications down the toilet, washing them down a sink or putting them in the trash, so they will not end up in a landfill - all to prevent the medications from polluting the environment.
Prior to installing Alton's box last month, people had dropped off 130,000 pounds of unwanted medications at the first 12 Illinois-American sites, Cotton said previously.
The company provided Alton's drop-off box, which Cotton said cost $500, and it provided the Alton Police Department with $2,500 to cover any costs affiliated with the program.
Alton's drop-off box was the second in Southern Illinois and the 13th in the state.
Company officials held a ceremony Thursday at the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department in Belleville to open the 14th box in Illinois.
The drugs, both over-the-counter and prescription, are locked in the Alton Police Department's evidence vault. They will be incinerated at Alton Steel.
linda_weller@thetelegraph.com
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department Offers FREE Used Pharmaceuticals Drop-off Site
Local residents can drop off their outdated or unwanted medications/drugs for no charge in a “Drop-Box” at the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department starting immediately. The unveiling of this new and FREE pharmaceutical/drug drop-off program was held at 1:30 p.m., Thursday, October 21st in the lobby of the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department.
The program is a product of teamwork between the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office, St. Clair County Health Department, City of Belleville, Illinois American Water and Southwestern Illinois College.
Together these companies and agencies have worked to expand the efforts of the popular Pontiac Prescription Drug Disposal (P2D2) program into St. Clair County by implementing and funding a drug disposal site at the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office. The group hopes their work will help protect water resources and keep unwanted drugs out of children's hands.
On hand for the unveiling, St. Clair County Chairman Mark Kern said, “By promoting local disposal programs and practicing proper disposal of pharmaceuticals we are able to protect two very valuable resources, our children and our water.” He continued, “I commend this group for the efforts they are putting forth to make this happen.”
The disposal box, donated by Illinois American Water, is located in the lobby of the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office. Unwanted medications and drugs, such as prescription pills and liquids, over-the counter medications, or illegal substances collected in the pharmaceutical/drug disposal box will be in continuous custody of law enforcement and then properly disposed by incineration. Items should be delivered in their original containers, if possible. Any liquid items placed in the box should be in sealed, leak-proof containers. In his comments, Sheriff Mearl Justus stated access to the drop-box is daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
“This program gives residents an alternative to flushing their medications, which can be harmful to our water sources,” said Karla Olson Teasley, President of Illinois American Water. “By properly disposing of unwanted medications we are helping to protect our water supply for future generations.”
The St. Clair County pharmaceutical disposal program, available to all St. Clair County residents was adopted from a model developed by Pontiac High School Township students and their teacher Paul Ritter. The program, P2D2, has been recognized by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, Illinois EPA and the Department of Natural Resources as a model for all pharmaceutical disposal programs. To learn more, please visit: www.epa.state.il.us/medication-disposal .
October 22, 2010
Toll of drug addiction stark reminder for students
By M.K. Guetersloh | mkguetersloh@pantagraph.com pantagraph.com | Posted: Thursday, October 21, 2010 11:16 pm | Loading…
Font Size:Default font sizeLarger font size.PONTIAC — Watching Gail Katz’s slideshow of her son, Daniel, moved Pontiac Township High School senior Morgan Kelly to tears.
Katz spent more than an hour Thursday talking to students at the school about how her son struggled with drug addiction and how it eventually killed him when he was 25 years old.
“I just kept thinking what if that was my mom up there talking about my brother,” said Kelly, 17. “It made me sad.”
Fellow senior Chase Alford, 18, said he thought the program made students think about the consequences of their choices.
“People don’t think taking drugs is a big deal,” Alford said. “But listening to her story and seeing those pictures of her son really show it’s not worth it.”
Katz and her family’s Save a Star Foundation stopped at the school as part of their efforts to educate teenagers about the dangers of abusing drugs, including prescriptions.
“My son was just like you,” Katz told the students. “We never thought we would have a drug addict in our family.”
Katz described how her son started experimenting with alcohol when he was 12. Then he moved on to marijuana and continued drinking while in high school. During his first year away at college, Daniel Katz started taking prescription drugs. Although he tried several times to get sober, he slipped.
“They tell you that you have to let them hit bottom,” she said. “It’s hard to let someone hit bottom, especially if their bottom could be death, like Daniel’s.”
Daniel Katz died in 2007 from an overdose of a prescription painkiller and cocaine.
The Highland Park-based foundation was invited to Pontiac by Paul Ritter, a teacher who helped sponsor a prescription drug disposal program called P2D2.
“The plain and simple fact is, prescription drug abuse is everywhere,” Ritter said. “People actually think it is safer to abuse prescription drugs than street drugs.”
Livingston County Coroner Mike Burke said his office has handled 30 deaths from drug overdoses since 1999. In the last three years the number of cases has gone from one or two a year to six deaths in 2008, nine in 2009 and four so far this year.
Font Size:Default font sizeLarger font size.PONTIAC — Watching Gail Katz’s slideshow of her son, Daniel, moved Pontiac Township High School senior Morgan Kelly to tears.
Katz spent more than an hour Thursday talking to students at the school about how her son struggled with drug addiction and how it eventually killed him when he was 25 years old.
“I just kept thinking what if that was my mom up there talking about my brother,” said Kelly, 17. “It made me sad.”
Fellow senior Chase Alford, 18, said he thought the program made students think about the consequences of their choices.
“People don’t think taking drugs is a big deal,” Alford said. “But listening to her story and seeing those pictures of her son really show it’s not worth it.”
Katz and her family’s Save a Star Foundation stopped at the school as part of their efforts to educate teenagers about the dangers of abusing drugs, including prescriptions.
“My son was just like you,” Katz told the students. “We never thought we would have a drug addict in our family.”
Katz described how her son started experimenting with alcohol when he was 12. Then he moved on to marijuana and continued drinking while in high school. During his first year away at college, Daniel Katz started taking prescription drugs. Although he tried several times to get sober, he slipped.
“They tell you that you have to let them hit bottom,” she said. “It’s hard to let someone hit bottom, especially if their bottom could be death, like Daniel’s.”
Daniel Katz died in 2007 from an overdose of a prescription painkiller and cocaine.
The Highland Park-based foundation was invited to Pontiac by Paul Ritter, a teacher who helped sponsor a prescription drug disposal program called P2D2.
“The plain and simple fact is, prescription drug abuse is everywhere,” Ritter said. “People actually think it is safer to abuse prescription drugs than street drugs.”
Livingston County Coroner Mike Burke said his office has handled 30 deaths from drug overdoses since 1999. In the last three years the number of cases has gone from one or two a year to six deaths in 2008, nine in 2009 and four so far this year.
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