Drug collection effort piles up 1,700 pounds

The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office has collected more than 1,700 pounds of prescription drugs since November 2011 when the first medicine disposal box was installed in the entry of the Sheriff’s Office. 

Sheriff Chuck Curry said Operation Medicine Cabinet is a big success. Disposal boxes are also at the Whitefish Police Department and Columbia Falls Police Department. 

“The goal of this program is to get drugs out of people’s medicine cabinets,” Curry said. “Oftentimes, people can leave old, expired or narcotic medications that may be a temptation to your kids or even other people. Prescription drug abuse has been steadily on the rise. 

“This program was designed to potentially get these drugs off of the streets at no cost to the public,” Curry added. “That’s the biggest goal of the program. We saw a perfect opportunity because we had a huge prescription drug problem. 

“Anything we can do to reduce that is a benefit to the community, and that’s why we got involved.” 

Curry said it has been difficult to get rid of prescription medications short of flushing them down the toilet, which isn’t necessarily good for the environment. 

The medicine disposal boxes are free for the public to use and law enforcement officials dispose of the medications properly. Commercial or bulk drops are discouraged and syringes and liquids are not allowed. 

Reporter Brittany Brevik may be reached at 758-4459 or by email at bbrevik@dailyinterlake.com.