Apple Valley Pharmacy launches drug take-back program

WARWICK — Apple Valley Pharmacy is now offering a drug take-back program to help its patients safely dispose of medicines that may be dangerous to others and to the environment.
“As members of the community, pharmacists are in a prime position to ensure the safe and proper handling of medications, from dispensing to disposal,” Dr. AnnMarie Graziadio, owner of Apple Valley Parmacy, said in a press release announcing the program. “Unused or expired medications pose risks to our families, communities, and the environment. We welcome all in the community to come and talk to our pharmacists about their prescriptions and how to store, use and dispose of them properly.”
Graziadio is a member of the National Community Pharmacists Association, which launched the Dispose My Meds program in 2009 to help its members create consumer drug disposal programs for medicines that may be dangerous to others and to the environment.
To date, more than 1,600 pharmacies have collected more than 200,000 pounds of medications for proper disposal.
Patients of any pharmacy are invited to safely dispose of unused and expired medications at Apple Valley Pharmacy free of charge by bringing in the drugs in their original stock containers.
The pharmacy is located at 8 West St. in the Village of Warwick.
The pharmacy will work to dispose of the drugs using the Sharps TakeAway Environmental Return System, a safe, easy method to dispose of unused patient medications in an environmentally friendly way.
According to the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, prescription drugs are the most commonly abused drugs among 12- and 13-year olds, while one in four teens has misused or abused a prescription drug at least once in their lifetime.
Though it may be argued that the presence of drugs in drinking water is negligible, more and more consumers are disposing of unused medicines by flushing them down the drain, adding pharmaceutical pollution to our waters.