3.75 Tons of Unused Medicine Collected

(Milwaukee, WI) – 7,500 pounds of unused medication is slated for destruction, keeping it off the streets and out of waterways following a medicine collection at the Mitchell Park Domes on April 26, 2014.  The annual collection is held in conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.

Medicine collections in Milwaukee County have accumulated more than 25 tons of unused medications since 2006.

1,227 people turned in 6,278 pounds of unused prescription and over-the-counter medications directly at the four-hour collection at the Domes.

The remaining 1,223 pounds came from residents who turned in unused meds at police departments prior to Medicine Collection Day.  Sixteen police departments in the County are participating in a program that gives residents a way to properly dispose of unused medications all year long. (Go tommsd.com for more information.)  They include:

Bayside                       Brown Deer                Cudahy

Fox Point                    Franklin                      Greendale

Greenfield                  Oak Creek                  River Hills

Shorewood                 South Milwaukee       St. Francis

Wauwatosa                West Allis                   West Milwaukee

Whitefish Bay

 

The Milwaukee Police Department provided officers at Miller Park to supervise the collection and to make sure guidelines were followed for handling certain kinds of pharmaceuticals.

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Bill Graffin, MMSD Public Information Manager

414-225-2077, bgraffin@mmsd.com