By LOIS KINDLE
It’s time to gather all of your old, unwanted or unused prescription drugs, over-the-counter meds, pet medications, vitamins and sharps, and let the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office safely destroy them.
Partnering with Kristi Campbell, franchise owner of Home Instead Senior Care Brandon, Community Resource Deputy Jeff Merry will gladly accept these during Operation Medicine Chest from 8 a.m. to noon Dec. 3 at Community Hall, 1910 Pebble Beach Blvd. S, Sun City Center.
Residents are invited to simply drive by Community Hall, where Community Resource Deputy Jeff Merry will gladly accept and secure drugs or medications they turn in during Operation Medicine Cabinet on Dec. 3.
“Drugs that are flushed down the toilet or thrown into the trash contaminate our public water supply and county landfill,” Merry said. “They also pose a risk to residents when they’re mixed up with current medications or get into the wrong hands.”
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Since 2006, 7.5 tons of unused, outdated and unwanted prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications have been collected in Sun City Center during Operation Medicine Cabinet. The next one’s coming up Dec. 3 from 8 a.m. to noon at Community Hall in Sun City Center.
Campbell agrees. “This program has kept people out of the hospital due to medication errors and saved lives,” she said. “And it’s prevented contractors, service providers and relatives from ransacking their medicine cabinets and ending up either personally misusing the drugs they take or selling them on the street.”
Since its inception in 2006, when Campbell and Community Resource Deputy Rob Thornton partnered to start Operation Medicine Cabinet, annual drug collections in Sun City Center have averaged 1,000 pounds, Campbell said. That’s a total of 7.5 tons.
And those numbers are increasing in recent years. “Between our two annual events, we’re now averaging 1,500 pounds,” she said.
Residents usually drop off their meds in boxes or grocery bags, but some even hand over loose pills in plastic storage bags. (Sharps need to be in a container or two-liter bottle.) Drivers come by in their cars or golf carts and simply hand them over.
“Everything is accepted as is. We don’t ask any questions,” Merry said. Sheriff’s Office personnel monitor the entire process.
Once drugs are taken into custody, they’re boxed and sealed, labeled and transported to the HCSO’s District 2 office in Tampa, where they’re safely secured until they go to be destroyed in the county’s incinerator the same way the sheriff’s office destroys illegal drugs and confiscated guns.
Community Resource Deputy Jeff Merry is responsible for coordinating Operation Medicine Cabinet in partnership with Kristi Campbell, franchise owner of Home Instead Senior Care Brandon.
Operation Medicine Chest will also be at Freedom Plaza lobby from 12:30 to 2 p.m. the same day.
Southern Hillsborough County residents can always drop off small quantities of pills or capsules at the Dist. 4 command office, 508 33rd St. SE, Ruskin. Liquids and sharps are prohibited at this location.
For more information, call Merry at 813-242-5525 or Campbell at 813-684-1972.
