The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office is participating in Operation Pill Drop, a Florida Sheriffs Association collaboration, to provide residents a safe, convenient and responsible means of drug disposal.

PINELLAS COUNTY – This past Saturday (Oct. 22), law enforcement agencies across Pinellas collected a total of 303.5 pounds of unused or expired prescription medications.

It was all part of the 12th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Locally called Operation Medicine Cabinet, the event was held at 11 locations across Pinellas. The event is an opportunity for residents to safely discard unused or expired prescription medications; and is a multi-agency effort aimed at addressing the problem of prescription drug abuse and keeping a clean environment.

Operation Medicine Cabinet events began in May 2009 and have been held semi-annually since then. Drop-off containers inside Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office Central Station (Largo) and North County District Station (Dunedin) are open year round.

The special medication take back events will continue this week (Oct. 24-Oct. 28) during the hours of  6:30 a.m. until 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. In addition to the weekday locations, one event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday (Oct. 29). Drop-off locations are at: North – Walgreens, 33670 U.S. 19 N, Palm Harbor; and South – Walgreens, 10563 Park Blvd., Seminole. For Saturday: Walmart, 35404 U.S. 19 N, Palm Harbor.

This week’s events are part of Operation Pill Drop, a Florida Sheriffs Association collaboration ongoing through Nov. 12.

The take-back events are important to stop drug abuse, officials said.The majority of prescription drug abusers report in surveys they got their drugs from friends’ and families’ medicine cabinets, drawers, and bedside tables, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

For information about the Pinellas County Sheriff, go to pcsoweb.com.

Pinellas County Sheriff | Prescription Drugs | Drug Take Back | Drug Disposal | TB Reporter

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