By Pantagraph staff | Posted: Sunday, July 24, 2011 8:00 am | 1 Comment
The collection and safe disposal of unused or expired prescription medications is moving onto the radar of many communities.
Illinois and 15 other states participate in the Prescription Pill and Drug Disposal Program, also known as P2D2.
The goal of the 4-year-old program is twofold: keeping prescription drugs out of the public water supply and keeping the medications off the street.
A collection event in June brought in 550 pounds of medications from Bloomington-Normal. In addition, the Bloomington Police Department collected 57 pounds of controlled substances from residents that same day.
In Clinton, police turned over 350 pounds of outdated prescriptions in April to the federal Drug Enforcement Agency for proper disposal.
In addition to annual collections held in many communities by organizations such as hospitals, medications can be dropped off for proper disposal at certain local pharmacies; police departments will accept controlled.
