5th Annual Medication Disposal Day Collection

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Harford County Public Schools and the Office of Drug Control Policy recently finished their 5^th Annual Medication Disposal Day collection. The collection events stemmed from a discussion about water quality at a Student Environmental Summit in 2010. One of the students attending asked what HCPS did with the student medications left at the end of the school year. At the time, Resource Conservation Manager Andrew Cassilly didn’t have an answer.

“I was taken back by her question, because I had not considered the medications we store in our nurses offices,” said Cassilly. “So, in an effort to practice what we preach, I decided to put together a collection plan. The first year I worked with the school nurses and Fallston Pharmacy, who generously agreed to properly dispose of all the unclaimed or outdated student medications. I was a bit overwhelmed by the volume of medication I collected over a two-day span.”

Cassilly realized he needed help, so he reached out to Joe Ryan, manager of the Office of Drug Control Policy for Harford County and the Harford County Sheriff’s Office. The three agencies collaborated to work out a program that has now collected more than one thousand pounds of medication to date.

At the end of each school year, the school nurses record and bag unclaimed student medications. School Resource Officers from the Harford County Sheriff’s office and the Bel Air, Havre de Grace, and Aberdeen police departments collect the medication from each school and deliver them to a collection center stationed for the day in the parking lot of the school system’s Central Office in Bel Air. The event is also promoted to the general public so citizens can drop off unused medications for disposal.

“This is a great partnership that not only helps the environment, but removes potentially dangerous medications commonly abused or sold illegally,” said Joe Ryan.

The parking lot collection tent makes it easy for the community to drive up and drop off with no questions asked. All medications collected are taken for incineration to avoid potential contamination of water supplies.
“We are glad to be part of the program,” said Sheriff Jeff Gahler. “Prescription medication abuse is a serious issue affecting Harford County. Any steps we can take to proactively remove these drugs from the community is well worth the effort.”

This multi-agency partnership all started with one question asked by a concerned young citizen and the goal is to continue to hold this annual collection at the end of each school year.

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