The steady drumbeat of the battle against opioid abuse has advanced to the retail level now with the arrival in Berrien County, and elsewhere in Michigan, of safe disposal boxes inside Walgreens stores in both St. Joseph and Niles.
The accumulation of unwanted and unused opioid drugs laying around the house often leads to those drugs ending up in the wrong hands, fostering opioid and other prescription drug abuse issues.
For several years the Walgreens Pharmacy chain has been rolling out the placement of safe disposal boxes across the country, with more than 1,000 now in place including some 30 stores in the state of Michigan which just joined the network this week.
The Walgreens Pharmacy stores located at 1260 Hilltop Road in St. Joseph and 907 S. 11th Street in Niles now have the large metal safe boxes installed, as do stores on West Main in Kalamazoo and Butternut in Holland.
Earlier this week Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette was joined by pharmaceutical representatives and law enforcement officials at a Walgreens near Grand Rapids to bring attention to the installation of the drop boxes now available for the first time in Michigan. Noting that unused drugs are a prime avenue for the opioid abuse crisis, Schuette applauded the stores for bringing new opportunities for safe, professional disposal to the marketplace.
Each store’s drop box can only be opened using a dual-key system, and Schuette points out that only one of those keys is in the store until officials empty it for incineration.
The St. Joseph and Niles Walgreens locations are the only sites in Berrien County currently employing the safe deposit boxes, but Schuette voiced hopes that other pharmacies will follow suit in the near future.
Both local stores are open 24 hours a day, and anonymous drop offs can be placed into the safe boxes any time that the store is open for business.
Before taking items to either of the stores please note that the following items are NOT accepted into the safe boxes:
- Illegal drugs
- Needles
- Lotions or liquids
- Ihalers
- Aerosol cans
- Thermometers
- Hydrogen Peroxide
The boxes are designed to take in excess, unwanted, unused prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications. Among prescription drugs, the acceptable range is Schedule II-V controlled and uncontrolled substances. When in doubt, check with the Pharmacist for additional help.
