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The unwanted, unused and expired pills and medicines were laid out like a speckled rainbow on the counter in the Geneva Police Department’s evidence room.
There were free samples of stomach acid reducer Prilosec which had expired in 2009, prescription bottles of blood-pressure medicine and pain killers, vitamins and herbal remedies and a big blue bottle of milk of magnesia that expired in 2010.
All of them came from the blue prescription drug dropoff box in the police department’s lobby.
Since the police started the prescription drug dropoff program in May 2010, the department has logged 700 pounds of drugs and 11,000 pills turned over for safe disposal. The program started as a way to keep drugs out of the water supply, away from children who might be poisoned and away from those who would abuse prescription drugs.
It is the job of Geneva Community Service Officer Robin Olsen to collect the items each week, weigh the pills, the liquids, the powders, and document everything as evidence, to prepare it for disposal at Delnor Hospital in Geneva.
“I have no problem doing it; it helps the community,” said Olsen, who wears a mask and gloves when preparing the castoffs for disposal.
“To me it’s other people’s medication, and you never know what’s in it,” Olsen said. “I glove up and mask up because I’m messing with other people’s medications. It’s gross, but it’s an essential part of my job and a benefit to the community to have it done.”
Police departments now treat castoff medications as evidence, with everything accounted for. This is because a deputy chief in Yorkville was charged last year with stealing prescription drugs from the department’s unwanted-medication program, officials said.
Locally, Geneva was the first to start collecting unused drugs in May 2010, piloting the program in Kane County. St. Charles Police started theirs in November 2010 and logged 750 pounds of medications for disposal in its first year.
The Kane County Sheriff followed in November 2011, expanding the locations for community members to drop off their unused medications.
Other departments, such as Campton Hills and Sugar Grove, participate during the Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day. The next one is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 28.
Officer Eddie Jackson, who set up the program for Geneva, estimated that between the three agencies, nearly a ton of unused drugs have been disposed of safely – as opposed to being flushed down the toilet, dropped in the garbage or accidentally swallowed by children.
Sgt. Brian Maduzia, who supervises the drug collection program, said there is also the need to keep drugs away from young people who would want to abuse prescription drugs.
But the local departments’ partnership with Delnor is expected to end this year, Jackson said, as hospital officials warned that the drug dropoff program’s success is just too overwhelming.
“They are discussing how they are going to proceed in the future,” Jackson said. “They have made recommendations that we contact other departments because the writing is on the wall that it is not favorable to continue the program.”
Delnor spokeswoman Laura Jacobs said the program is under review.
“We are currently evaluating our pharmaceutical waste program and will provide updates as appropriate,” Jacobs said.
Geneva Police Chief Steve Mexin said if Delnor stops accepting the castoff drugs, he believes the department will continue the program on its own.
“The history of the last two years of the program has shown that there is a need out there,” Mexin said. “Getting it out of the general public definitely makes people safer so it does not fall into the wrong hands.”
Mexin said he did not know an exact cost to taking on the disposal aspect of the dropped off drugs, but one estimate was about $1,000 a year.
“In these times, when we are cutting programs due to financial issues, every penny is looked at,” Mexin said. “But I think this is one that is that important that we would have to maintain it, regardless of who partners with us.”
St. Charles spokesman Paul McCurtain said officials were reviewing their options.
Kane County Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Pat Gengler said it was important for the programs to continue.
“Prescription drug use is a very real problem, and every pill that is disposed of properly is one less that can be abused,” Gengler said. “I would counter that these programs need to be expanded, not refused, as they provide a vital resource in starting to deal with the issue of prescription drug abuse.”
David Walters, manager of the waste reduction section of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, said the agency used to collect the drugs for disposal, but no longer can afford to do that.
“They have to be disposed of in a hazardous waste incinerator at a facility that has a permit to handle hazardous waste,” Walters said. “We want to keep the drugs out of the water supply. A number of studies show the drugs are showing up in surface water and drinking water. If you can’t get to a collection site, throw it in the trash; do not flush it.”
Where to drop off unused medications, residents only:
• Kane County Sheriff – 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday at sheriff’s office, 38W755 Route 38 in St. Charles Township.
• St. Charles Police Department – 6 a.m. to midnight, Monday through Friday; 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays, 211 North Riverside Ave.
• Geneva Police Department – all day, every day, 20 Police Plaza.
• Fox Metro Water Reclamation District – 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m Monday through Friday, 682 Route 31, Oswego
How to dispose of unused medications:
• Leave them in the original container, blacking out any personal information from the label.
• Acceptable items include prescription and over-the-counter medications, ointments, lotions, vitamins, pet medications and inhalers.
• Unacceptable items include thermometers, IV bags, needles, bloody or infectious waste, illegal drugs.
For more information:
• Drug Enforcement Administration – www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/
• Friends of the Fox River – www.friendsofthefoxriver.org/
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – www.epa.gov/ppcp/
• Illinois Environmental Protection Agency – www.epa.state.il.us/medication-disposal/