About 4,000 doses of narcotics and more than 200 pounds of prescription and over-the-counter drugs were cleaned out of Pittsburgh-area medicine cabinets on May 8, 2010.
Residents were invited to bring their unused prescriptions to two drop-off sites organized by the Pennsylvania Medical Society (PAMED), Drug Free PA, the Allegheny County Medical Society, and various government agencies. Medications collected at the sites were disposed of through environmentally friendly incineration technology.
Those who brought medications to the drop-off sites said they were pleased with the program and would like to see it repeated. Future pilot campaigns are planned for southcentral and southeastern Pennsylvania.
The sites were staffed by physician, pharmacist, and law enforcement volunteers, as well as teenagers from the Pittsburgh Mayor’s Youth Council.
PAMED’s goal in collaborating on this campaign is to develop a guide to help community organizations statewide organize medication clean-up campaigns.