This past Saturday, April 27 the Allegany Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, Inc. (ACASA), the Allegany County Sheriff’s Office, Andover and Wellsville Volunteer Fire Departments, and Partners for Prevention in Allegany County (PPAC) held their biannual pill drop event in conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) National Take Back Day. Community members brought over 73 pounds of unwanted or unused medications and needles they wanted to dispose of properly. The agencies use the pill drops to educate the community on the fourteen Take It to the Box locations that are throughout Allegany County, that can be used to dispose of medications year-round for free. The partners also educated about the availability to dispose of needles at any of the Allegany County transfer stations for free. Community members are asked to put needles into a puncture proof container like a laundry detergent bottle with the cap securely on. Allegany County is one of the very few counties in New York that offers this service for free.

Andover and Wellsville were chosen to be the Spring pill drop locations to help educate about the Take It to the Box location at Jones Memorial Medical Practice, 20 Main Street in Andover and the three locations in Wellsville at Fisher’s Pharmacy, 138 North Main Street, Jones Memorial Hospital, 191 North Main Street, and the Wellsville Police Department, 46 South Main Street. “The purpose of holding the pill drops is to offer community members the opportunity to dispose of their medications safely, but also educate them about other resources available to them,” states PPAC Coalition Coordinator Jon Chaffee. “It is important for people to not hold onto medications that they are no longer using as studies have shown that youth and adults who abuse medications usually get them from friends or family members without their knowledge,” states Chaffee.

This year 20 cars came to the two locations to drop off medications and needles. Even though the pill drop events do not collect as much medication as in the past the Take It to the Box locations collected over 1,600 pounds in 2023. Each person who dropped medications off received a reusable grocery bag and Take It to the Box magnet. All medications that are collected are taken to an incinerating location by the Sheriff’s Office to make the medications harmless to the environment and useless to people.

The next pill drop event will be held in October of 2024. To find out where all the Take It to the Box locations are located throughout Allegany County visit www.ppaccentral.org/takeittothebox/. If you want to know more information about the National Take Back Day or find other locations you can visit https://www.dea.gov/takebackday. For questions people can also reach out to Coalition Coordinator Jonathan Chaffee by emailing ppac@alleganycouncil.org or calling (585) 593 – 1920.

Remember Prevention Works!