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Winston Police Chief Scott Gugel displays unused medication area residents turned in as part of the Winston Drug Free Communities Grant program.
So you know...
• In Clackamas County, a 40-year-old mother of two died from an accidental overdose of Methadone. She was having difficulty sleeping and decided to try a family member’s unused prescription drug left in her medicine cabinet.
• Twelve- to 17-year-olds are the fastest-growing group of prescription drug abusers. “Pharming parties” refer to parties where teens meet to swap drugs found in their homes.
• Drugs are being found in waterways nationwide; some of them reach the environment by being flushed down the toilet. One study showed a male Chinook salmon to be very susceptible to sex reversal.
Information: www.oracwa.org
• According to the National Anti-Drug Campaign, medications should not be flushed down the drain or toilet because the chemicals can pollute the water supply. To properly dispose of prescription medications, please bring them to the Winston Police Station, 201 NW Douglas Boulevard. Medications can also be disposed of in your trash. However, before they are put with your household waste, mix with an unsavory substance like used coffee grounds or cat litter.
• Twelve- to 17-year-olds are the fastest-growing group of prescription drug abusers. “Pharming parties” refer to parties where teens meet to swap drugs found in their homes.
• Drugs are being found in waterways nationwide; some of them reach the environment by being flushed down the toilet. One study showed a male Chinook salmon to be very susceptible to sex reversal.
Information: www.oracwa.org
• According to the National Anti-Drug Campaign, medications should not be flushed down the drain or toilet because the chemicals can pollute the water supply. To properly dispose of prescription medications, please bring them to the Winston Police Station, 201 NW Douglas Boulevard. Medications can also be disposed of in your trash. However, before they are put with your household waste, mix with an unsavory substance like used coffee grounds or cat litter.
WINSTON — Since one person brought in a couple of prescription pills to the Winston Police Department one month ago, about 16 area residents have followed suit and raided their medicine cabinets.
According to Winston Police Chief Scott Gugel, the police department has accepted enough medication containers to fill a 55-gallon trash bag and enough multicolored pills alone to fill a 2 1/2-gallon bucket.
“It’s been pretty much the gamut,” said Gugel. “Everything from Oxycodone, Vicodin, antibiotics — pretty much everything.”
The unused pharmaceutical take-back program was first proposed by the federally funded Winston Area Community Partnership Drug Free Communities grant program and is modeled after several other nationwide attempts to reduce drug use.
“I think word of mouth has really gotten it out there — I’m really surprised,” said program manager Linda Cline.“ That’s a lot meds out of reach.”
The program is the first of its kind in Douglas County and a step toward a much larger effort to keep Oregon’s water clean and unused pills from the hands of adults and teens, said Abby Boudouris, the household hazardous waste coordinator for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
According to Boudouris, the DEQ is one of several stakeholders proposing a statewide pharmaceutical take-back program.
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 reach the environment, either through people who later end up with the medicine excreting it or by people flushing the pills down the toilet or throwing them in the trash.
“There is not good data to determine the percentage of pharmaceuticals in the water,” said Boudouris. “We don’t know yet what percentage is coming from excretion and what percentage is coming from disposal, but we can stop improper disposal.”
Studies are also showing the effects on micro-organisms and fish, said Boudouris. The ACWA Web site states the two biggest concerns as hormone disruption in fish and effects antibiotics have on marine life.
Equally important, said Boudouris, is keeping the unused medication out of home cabinets.
“In some ways, that’s a bigger concern,” she said.
The program proposed by the stakeholder group 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 possibilities of pre-paid, mail-in envelopes and drop boxes at law enforcement agencies and pharmacies.
Boudouris said the stewardship program is still a proposal. The group is pushing for it to be introduced in the 2009 State Legislature.
Meanwhile, the Winston Police Department will continue to accept unused medication from the public. Gugel said they are still working out the kinks of the program. Officers have not been recording age or gender, so demographics are unknown.
Thirty minutes before a Thursday phone interview with Gugel, he said a person had brought in a large jar filled with “assorted pills.”
With each collection of pharmaceuticals, consumption of the pills by youth in the area decreases, said Gugel.
“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.
As for disposing of the large quantity of pills, the police chief is entertaining the idea of incinerating them or taking them to a landfill.
“ It’s a caretaking function; we’re all kind of out there to protect the public until some other remedy is in place,” said Gugel. “It’s a little extra work, but I think it’s a worthwhile cause.”
• You can reach reporter Cara Pallone at 957-4208 or by e-mail at cpallone@nrtoday.com.
According to Winston Police Chief Scott Gugel, the police department has accepted enough medication containers to fill a 55-gallon trash bag and enough multicolored pills alone to fill a 2 1/2-gallon bucket.
“It’s been pretty much the gamut,” said Gugel. “Everything from Oxycodone, Vicodin, antibiotics — pretty much everything.”
The unused pharmaceutical take-back program was first proposed by the federally funded Winston Area Community Partnership Drug Free Communities grant program and is modeled after several other nationwide attempts to reduce drug use.
“I think word of mouth has really gotten it out there — I’m really surprised,” said program manager Linda Cline.“ That’s a lot meds out of reach.”
The program is the first of its kind in Douglas County and a step toward a much larger effort to keep Oregon’s water clean and unused pills from the hands of adults and teens, said Abby Boudouris, the household hazardous waste coordinator for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
According to Boudouris, the DEQ is one of several stakeholders proposing a statewide pharmaceutical take-back program.
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 reach the environment, either through people who later end up with the medicine excreting it or by people flushing the pills down the toilet or throwing them in the trash.
“There is not good data to determine the percentage of pharmaceuticals in the water,” said Boudouris. “We don’t know yet what percentage is coming from excretion and what percentage is coming from disposal, but we can stop improper disposal.”
Studies are also showing the effects on micro-organisms and fish, said Boudouris. The ACWA Web site states the two biggest concerns as hormone disruption in fish and effects antibiotics have on marine life.
Equally important, said Boudouris, is keeping the unused medication out of home cabinets.
“In some ways, that’s a bigger concern,” she said.
The program proposed by the stakeholder group 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 possibilities of pre-paid, mail-in envelopes and drop boxes at law enforcement agencies and pharmacies.
Boudouris said the stewardship program is still a proposal. The group is pushing for it to be introduced in the 2009 State Legislature.
Meanwhile, the Winston Police Department will continue to accept unused medication from the public. Gugel said they are still working out the kinks of the program. Officers have not been recording age or gender, so demographics are unknown.
Thirty minutes before a Thursday phone interview with Gugel, he said a person had brought in a large jar filled with “assorted pills.”
With each collection of pharmaceuticals, consumption of the pills by youth in the area decreases, said Gugel.
“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.
As for disposing of the large quantity of pills, the police chief is entertaining the idea of incinerating them or taking them to a landfill.
“ It’s a caretaking function; we’re all kind of out there to protect the public until some other remedy is in place,” said Gugel. “It’s a little extra work, but I think it’s a worthwhile cause.”
• You can reach reporter Cara Pallone at 957-4208 or by e-mail at cpallone@nrtoday.com.
