Clallam County Board of Health adopts medicine return program

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, December 27, 2017

The Clallam County Board of Health voted unanimously on Nov. 21 to adopt a regulation that creates and funds a secure medicine return program for Clallam County.

The law requires drug manufacturers to finance and coordinate a convenient and secure take-back system for unused medicines.

When the program is launched in 2018, residents will be able to bring leftover medications into their local pharmacies, hospitals and other locations for safe disposal, county health officials said last week.

In areas without collection sites, prepaid return mailers will be available.

The regulation is part of a comprehensive strategy to prevent prescription drug abuse and poisonings, county health officials said. Nationally, about one-third of medicines sold go unused and medication stored in home medicine cabinets provides teens and others with easy access to pharmaceuticals that can be dangerous or deadly if misused.

“We really needed a way to encourage safe disposal of extra opioids and other medications,” Clallam County Health Officer Christopher Frank said.

Such programs are a key step to reducing overdoses, suicides and childhood poisoning,” he said. “We wanted to provide access for everyone, even in the most rural parts of Clallam County, so our program will include a mail- in option in addition to the secure kiosks.”

Additionally, improper disposal of medicines down the drain or in the household trash adds to pharmaceutical pollution in the environment, including in Puget Sound and our drinking water sources.

Septic and wastewater systems are not designed to treat pharmaceuticals that might be present in effluent wastewater, county health officials say.

“This ordinance is an important piece of the puzzle in preventing opioid addiction, and it creates a stable funding mechanism to make sure the program is sustainable,” Andy Brastad, Clallam County Health and Human Services Director, said.

The regulation is modeled after secure medicine return regulations enacted in King, Snohomish, Kitsap and Pierce counties. It requires pharmaceutical producers to provide and finance the secure medicine return system.

The system is coordinated by a stewardship organization, which provides drop-off kiosks at approved locations and disposes of returned medicines in a secure and environmentally-sound way.

The new ordinance took effect immediately, and requires that pharmaceutical manufacturers submit their proposed plans for the secure medicine return system within six months.

Clallam County Health and Human Services will oversee and monitor the program, which is expected to begin operations in late 2018.