A group in Milwaukee county is requesting that more be done to ensure consumers understand how to properly dispose of unused medications.
Take Back Your Meds Milwaukee, today praised the joint effort organized by Milwaukee Aldermen Jim Bohl and Michael Murphy, CVS Pharmacy and the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District to provide mail back envelopes to consumers for disposing of unused medicines.
“Roughly 90% of unused medicines go uncollected and consumers are unsure what to do with them,” said Amber Meyer Smith of Clean Wisconsin. “They should never go into the toilet or the trash. Instead, they should be disposed of safely, but consumers need convenient options for safe disposal. The mail back initiative is another step in the right direction, but much more needs to be done.”
The new City of Milwaukee mail back program, the successful drug take back event sponsored by the Wisconsin Department of Justice and having drop boxes in every police station in Milwaukee County are good steps, but Take Back Your Meds Milwaukee is focused on placing drop boxes in pharmacies throughout Milwaukee County – where consumers pick up their prescription drugs.
“Experience in other cities shows that we collect the most unused medicine when there is a drop box in a pharmacy,” said Kathy Schmitz of the Milwaukee County Medical Society. “Hayat Pharmacy and Walgreens have stepped up with pilot programs but we need much more. Our goal is to have a permanent drop box in every pharmacy in Milwaukee County.”
A map of current drop boxes in Milwaukee County can be found on the coalition’s website: takebackyourmedsmilwaukee.org.
