Dispose of Unused Prescriptions at Southern District Police Station

Do you want to keep prescription medications out of drinking water and area waterways?

Do you want get rid of unused drugs so they won’t be abused by teens or drug abusers?

The Anne Arundel County Police Department wants to help citizens resolve both of these issues by giving people an option for properly disposing of unused medications.

To that end, drop unused medications at “Drug Drop Box” locations at each of the four Anne Arundel County police stations (Southern, Eastern, Western and Northern). Address for each of these stations can be found at the bottom of this story.

Police spokesman Justin Mulcahy sent a media advisory about the drug drop boxes on June 6. Mulcahy said that at previous Prescription Drug Take Bay Initiative days—the most recent was April 28—citizens were able to safely dispose of medications in a safe and secure environment by bringing them to collection boxes at police stations.

Mulcahy said that at the most recent spring event, police collected over 350 pounds of unused or unwanted medications. The same protocols will be in place for the permanent boxes as for the Prescription Drug Take Back days.

You should continue to contact police to recover illegal or illicit drugs that citizens may find.

According to the organization, “Dispose My Meds,”over 100 different pharmaceuticals have been detected in lakes, rivers, reservoirs and streams around the world. These medications are a genuine concern for scientists because of the potential impacts to human health and to aquatic organisms.

The group says that drugs, including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones have been found in the drinking supplies of over 40 million Americans. Aside from these environmental concerns, unused drugs also pose a danger to children, who may unintentionally find unsecured, leftover medications. In a 2010 study, the Office of National Drug Control Policy found that about 71,000 children are seen in emergency rooms for unintentional overdoses of prescription and over-the-counter drugs.

The study also found that, after marijuana, prescription drugs are the second most-abused substance among teens 12 to 17 years old.

You can help keep these drugs away from young people and out of the environment by disposing of them at the police station.

Here are the four police station drop box locations:

• Southern District located at 35 Stepneys Lane in Edgewater
• Northern District located at 939 Hammonds Lane in Baltimore
• Eastern District located at 3700 Mountain Road in Pasadena
• Western District located at 8273 Telegraph Road in Odenton.