“Keep your family safe and help protect our environment.”
~ Legislator John D. Ceretto, 12th District
8,000 DOSES OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES TAKEN OUT OF CIRCULATION
COUNTY DOUBLES PHARMACEUTICAL TURN-IN OVER 2008
LEWISTON—With concerns mounting over the impact of old pharmaceuticals on the health of both children and the environment, Niagara County’s Refuse Disposal District collected more than 800 pounds of pharmaceuticals—including 8,000 doses of controlled substances—Saturday.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW VIDEO FROM THE EVENTThe pharmaceutical collection, dubbed a “blue-green initiative” by Refuse Committee Chairman Legislator John D. Ceretto, R-Lewiston, for its benefits to both law enforcement and conservation efforts, has become an annual occurrence in the county since its 2008 inception.
Under the program, initiated by Ceretto and Pope, drugs are taken out of circulation—no questions asked—at Mt. St. Mary’s Hospital in Lewiston. The event includes heavy security by both the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office and Lewiston Police Department. The two law enforcement agencies then escort the collected drugs to an industrial incinerator, where they are, in the words of Refuse District Director Rick Pope, “vaporized.”
“This is really important for our families, for the future of our community,” Ceretto said. “We need to protect our environment and keep these drugs out of our waterways. And at least as important, we need to keep drugs away from our kids and our kids away from drugs.”
Ceretto noted that drugs disposed of by being dumped down drains and flushed down toilets often made their way into waterways, where they then had significant impacts on local wildlife.
“With sport fishing such an important industry here in Niagara County, protecting that resource is critical,” Ceretto said. “But at the end of the day, I think everyone’s first priority is making sure that our children don’t have access to prescription medications, which are becoming the drug of choice according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy.”
Ceretto was joined at the event by Legislator Tony Nemi, I-Lockport, the vice chairman of the Legislature’s Community Services Committee. Nemi was observing the pharmaceutical collection on behalf of the committee, and noted that it was an effective approach.
“In the time I’ve been here, more than a dozen cars have dropped off old pharmaceuticals,” he said. “We are providing an opportunity to dispose of drugs that are laying around the home, that people just don’t know what to do with. This is a perfect opportunity to dispose of those drugs.”
Pope released final tallies for the event Saturday night, following the thermal destruction of the drugs.
More than 800 pounds of drugs were collected, representing a 90 percent increase over 2008’s collection totals. This included 135.5 pounds of hazardous pharmaceuticals and 35.5 pounds of controlled substances. The Refuse District also collected 66.75 pounds of inert packaging material. The remaining materials were non-hazardous over-the-counter drugs.
Serving 162 residents, according to Pope, the collection event netted some 8,000 doses of controlled substances and more than 100,000 doses of over-the-counter drugs.
Pope also noted the event brought more than 50 volunteers to Mt. St. Mary’s.
“They believe in the program as well as we do,” Ceretto said. “And that’s why the program’s successful—because we all believe in it strongly.”
