FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 27, 2014
~More
than 100 residents participate in collection event~
 TALLAHASSEE – More than 250 pounds of medications are being disposed of properly after a successful collection event Saturday. The event took place at Costco in Tallahassee. The
Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the
Southern Waste Information eXchange, Inc. (SWIX) partnered to put on the “Operation Medicine
Cabinet” event.
“Operation Medicine Cabinet” collection events provide
Tallahassee and Leon County residents the opportunity to properly dispose of
their unused or unneeded medications, protecting the environment and lessening
the chances for the illegal and potentially harmful use of these drugs.
Proper
disposal of unwanted medications is important to public safety because wastewater-treatment systems are not designed to remove many types of medications.
Residents can contaminate groundwater supply and drinking water by flushing
drugs down the toilet or pouring medications down the sink. All of the drugs
collected from Saturday’s event will be destroyed properly by incineration.
In addition
to SWIX, other event sponsors included Costco, Leon County Sheriff’s Office,
94.9 TNT, iHeartMedia of Tallahassee, Florida Pharmacy Association, Florida
Society of Health Systems Pharmacists, Florida State University’s Center for
Biomedical and Toxicological Research, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical
University College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Institute of
Public Health.
“Operation Medicine Cabinet” is an annual event. To find information on a similar event in your area, contact SWIX Associate Director Ray Moreau at 850-386-6280 or
by email at ray@swix.ws.
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