PRESCRIPTION DRUG TASK FORCE ANNOUNCES WICOMICO COUNTY PRESCRIPTION DRUG DROP BOX LOCATIONS

Salisbury, MD – County Executive Rick Pollitt, the Health Department, law enforcement officials and other members of the Prescription Drug Task Force announced the installation and locations of prescription drug drop-off boxes within Wicomico County where individuals can safely and anonymously dispose of prescription and non-prescription medicines.

The Prescription Drug Disposal Program allows concerned citizens four convenient sites to dispose of unused, unwanted or expired medications. This initiative will prevent these medications from illegal distribution and use.

Executive Pollitt stated, “By turning in those unused and out-dated prescription drugs, we can take a huge step toward preventing their falling into the wrongs hands with the accompanying chaos that could bring. I applaud our health department and our law enforcement team for providing this pro-active service to further protect our community.”

Citizens can find prescription drug drop-off boxes at the following locations:

· Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office: Monday through Friday , 8AM – 5PM
· Fruitland Police: Monday through Friday, 8AM – 4PM
· Delmar Police: Monday through Friday, 8AM – 5PM
· Salisbury Police: Monday through Sunday, 24 hours/day

Culver Enterprises, the company that makes the boxes, is responsible for pick-up and disposal of the medications. John Culver commented, “Medications will be picked up from the drop boxes regularly and then delivered to Curtis Bay, a 24 hour disposal site in Baltimore where they are safely incinerated."

According to the Maryland Poison Control, half of the 864 calls to poison control from Wicomico County in 2011 concerned children under 6 years old. They also found that the most common medicine exposures - for children in that age bracket - were pain relievers and medicines for
skin. Also on the list are heart medicines, thyroid, anti-diabetic and gastrointestinal medicines as well as antihistamines and vitamins.