A huge haul of pills and other medications fill this big bag: the results of Pinellas County’s first-even Operation Medicine Chest on May 30.
LARGO – The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office is sponsoring a second “Operation Medicine Cabinet” on Saturday, Nov. 14 where citizens can drop off their unused prescription drugs.
The operation will give residents a chance to bring unused or expired prescription medications to various locations in their community for safe disposal.
The collection will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at seven locations.
They are:
• Kmart, west parking lot, 7949 113th St. N., Seminole.
• The Fountains of Boca Ciega Bay, 1255 Pasadena Ave. S., South Pasadena
• Sweetbay Supermarket, 1681 Main St., Dunedin
• Wal-Mart, 3801 Tampa Road, Oldsmar
• Sweetbay Supermarket, 1794 22nd St. S., St. Petersburg
• Sweetbay Supermarket, 7491 Fourth St. N., St. Petersburg
• Sweetbay Supermarket, 6095 Ninth Ave. N., St. Petersburg
Last spring over a ton of prescription drugs were collected in the first collection.
According to statistics prescription drugs are the No. 1 abused drug in the United States, now surpassing all other illicit drugs. Nine people die daily in the State of Florida due to prescription drug abuse. In Pinellas County, prescription drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death after automobile crashes.
“The first “Operation Medicine Cabinet,” which was held in May, was very successful,” said Capt. Robert Alfonso of the Sheriff’s Narcotics Division. “We collected over a ton of prescription medications. Since that first operation we have received numerous calls from the public requesting a second collection event.”
The program provides a safe way of destroying the pharmaceuticals through incineration. By burning the pharmaceuticals as opposed to flushing or sending the medication to the landfill, pollution of the environment can be avoided.
For more information, call the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office public information office at 582-6221.
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