Drop off unwanted drugs at Monroeville police station any time
Monroeville-area residents will not have to wait for another drug take back event to properly dispose of their unwanted medications.
A prescription drug deposit box recently was installed at the Monroeville Police Department station at 2700 Monroeville Blvd. The box inside the station lobby is accessible for medication drop off 24 hours a day, no questions asked, said police Chief Doug Cole.
The drop box is one of more than 20 in Allegheny County provided through the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association.
“The boxes give residents an easy and safe way to dispose of ... medication that they are not using or that has expired,” said Allegheny County District Attorney's Office spokesman Mike Manko. “The more of this medication we can dispose of properly, the more we can keep off the streets — hopefully, cutting down on the number of people who are abusing these types of medications.”
Monroeville police began accepting unwanted and expired medication in 2010 as part of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration's National Prescription Drug Take-Back Initiative. But those were scheduled drives that only took place twice a year. Cole hopes the drop boxes lead to larger amounts of drugs being collected for disposal.
“It makes it convenient for everybody. We have 24-hour coverage of the facility,” Cole said.
Last month, as part of the federal initiative, the Monroeville department collected 60 pounds of pills, Cole said. Nationwide, 893,000 pounds of unwanted medications at 5,300 collection sites was collected, according to DEA statistics.
Monroeville's drop box is one of about 400 in the state given to local police departments since 2013.
Pitcairn police Chief Scott Farally said his department received its drop box about nine months ago.
People can drop off unused medications from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays at the Pitcairn police department, 580 Sixth St.
“It's going well,” Farally said.
Michael DiVittorio is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-871-2367 or mdivittorio@tribweb.com.
