On Saturday, April 22 the Allegany County Spring Pill Drop was held in conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Friendship and Wellsville were chosen for the spring locations.  The pill drop event allows the community to drop off unused, expired, or unwanted medications, needles/sharps, and provides the opportunity for education on the location of the fourteen Take It to the Box locations throughout Allegany County.  

This event was held in partnership with the Allegany Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, Inc.(ACASA), the Allegany County Sheriff’s Office, and Partners for Prevention in Allegany County(PPAC). Medications were accepted from 10am to 2pm, and between the two locations, a total of 11 cars participated and 40 pounds of medications were collected. “The DEA’s Take Back Day allows us to provide a needed resource for our citizens and help educate them on the proper disposal of medications, this in turn helps to keep these medications out of the wrong hands and from contaminating our environment,” stated Undersheriff Walt Mackney.

Each car that stopped received a Deterra bag, to dispose of medications properly at home and a Take It to The Box magnet, which lists all of the pill drop box locations throughout Allegany County, which includes:

• Alfred Pharmacy, 36 North Main Street, Alfred, NY 14802.
• Alfred State’s Office of University Police, 10 Upper College Drive, Alfred, NY 14802.
• Allegany County Sheriff’s Office, 4884 NY-19, Belmont, NY 14813.
• Cuba Pharmacy, 2 Center Street, Cuba, NY 14727.
• Cuba Police Department, 15 Water Street, Cuba, NY 14727.
• Fillmore Pharmacy, 10560 NY-19, Fillmore, NY 14735.
• Fisher’s Pharmacy, 138 North Main Street, Wellsville, NY 14895.
• Friendship Pharmacy, 9 West Main Street, Friendship, NY 14739.
• Jones Memorial Hospital, 191 North Main Street, Wellsville, NY 14895.
• Jones Memorial Medical Practice, 20 Main Street, Andover, NY 14806.
• Jones Memorial Medical Practice, 120 First Street, Bolivar, NY 14715.
• Nicholson Pharmacy, 36 Schuyler Street, Belmont, NY 14813.
• Tri-County Family Medicine, 12 North Church Street, Canaseraga, NY 14822.
• Wellsville Police Department, 46 South Main Street, Wellsville, NY 14895.

In 2022, 1,800 pounds of medications were collected from the pill drop box locations by the Sheriff’s Office. “The pill drop boxes continue to be used more and more by the community, which makes the pill drops less active than prior years, but the goal is for people to not hold onto their unused or unwanted medications,” states PPAC Coalition Coordinator Jon Chaffee.

More information about the pill drop box locations can be found at https://ppaccentral.org/takeittothebox/ .

The pill drop events and boxes are completely anonymous and confidential. The collected medications are transported to an undisclosed location for incineration by the Allegany County Sheriff’s Office. Incinerating the medications makes them useless to people and harmless to the environment.

Allegany County also has free sharps/needle disposal available at all Allegany County Transfer Stations. The days and times that these locations are open are different per location. Below is a listed of all the locations.

• Alfred, 394 Satterlee Hill Road. Open Friday, and Saturday 8am to 3:30pm.
• Belmont, 6006 County Road 48. Open Tuesday through Saturday 8am to 3:30pm.
• Bolivar, 135 Reed Street. Open Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday 8am to 3:30pm.
• Canaseraga, 89 West Main Street. Open Saturday 8am to 3:30pm.
• Caneadea, 9425 Molyneaux Road. Open Wednesday and Saturday 8am to 3:30pm.
• Cuba/Friendship, 7912 County Road 20. Open Thursday and Saturday 8am to 3:30pm.
• Wellsville, 77 Dyke Street. Open Tuesday through Saturday 8am to 3:30pm.

For any questions on the Allegany County Sharps Disposal Program contact Recycling Coordinator Tim Palmiter (585) 268-7282. More information about the Sharps Disposal Program can be found at https://ppaccentral.org/needledisposal/ .

The agencies involved would like to send out a special “Thank You” to the Friendship and Wellsville Fire Departments for giving us a space to hold the pill drop event. The next pill drop event will be held in October, 2023.