By MIKE MCCOY
Statesman Staff Writer
The Dexter Police Department will continue to take prescription and non-prescription medications from the public despite the end of the Early Prevention Impacts Community (EPIC) by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The DEA cancelled the program and held its last event in September 2014. The DEA sponsored two drug take-back events each year since 2010 to dispose of collected medications across the country. The DEA decision has left many police departments looking for an alternate way to dispose of the medications.
Dexter Police Chief Sammy Stone said the police department will continue to have their drop box in the lobby of the Police Station at 305 Cooper Street. He estimated the department has disposed of 300 pounds per year of medications since the program began. He is looking for an alternate way to dispose of the drugs brought in by the public.
"I am going to talk with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR)," said Stone. "I need to see what kind of regulations there are in disposing of these drugs."
Stone said the EPIC program was a good one, and he hated to see it end. He said flushing medications is not a good idea since the drugs could wind up in streams and other water reservoirs. Solid waste treatment plants are not designed to filter out medications.
Stone reported that he was looking at local ways to incinerate the drugs. He had some ideas, but did not want to say what they were until he spoke with DNR.
The Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department has removed their collection box for pharmaceuticals.
Capt. Ruth Ann Dickerson told the Southeast Missourian that the cost of disposing of the drugs was too high to continue the program.
Perryville, Mo., Police chief Direk Hunt told the Missourian that a company with an incinerator has offered to destroy drugs for his department and the Perry County Sheriff's Department, so the will continue the program.
The Jackson Police Department collected over 400 pounds per year, and they, like many departments, are trying to find a new way to safety dispose of the drugs.
A Nov. 5 news release from the DEA says the agency began hosting the take-back events in 2010 to provide a legal means for people to dispose of unwanted prescription drugs.
A week after the first event, Congress enacted a law authorizing the DEA to develop regulations allowing certain drug manufacturers, distributors, drug treatment programs and pharmacies to collect and destroy unwanted drugs, the release stated.
The DEA discontinued the events after the new regulations went into effect last year.
Stone noted that the public can dispose of all types of medications at the drop box. The only exception is syringes. Syringes are not accepted. Stone said he was told by the DEA that the best way of disposing of syringes was to wrap them in paper towels, put them in a used sealable plastic container and put them in the trash.
Stone said the box at the police station is currently full, so he will have to find a way to dispose of the drugs rather quickly.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends an alternate method for those who lack access to drug take-back bins.
Rather than tossing drugs into the trash, container and all, the EPA advises mixing unwanted drugs into coffee grounds or cat litter and placing the mixture into a sealable bag or disposable container before throwing it away.
Sending pills to the landfill is not ideal, but it is better than flushing them, EPA compliance officer Ed Buckner said.
He said landfills have liners and pipe systems that collect contaminated liquid for treatment instead of allowing it to percolate into the groundwater.
Medications flushed down the toilet end up in waterways, because sewage treatment plants are built to process organic matter, not chemicals, Buckner said.
Southeast Missourian Writer Emily Priddy contributed to this story.