Medication Disposal Program on the Horizon
Recognizing the serious and growing problems of medication abuse and doctor shopping, the Medical Society is collaborating with Drug Free Pennsylvania and other groups to develop a statewide medication disposal program.
Home medicine cabinets have become a ready source of medications for abuse by teens looking for a “safer drug” to get high.
“It’s time to get serious about drug disposal,” Alan Axelson, MD, told a committee at the Society’s House of Delegates in October. Axelson is author of a resolution adopted by the Society to help resolve medication disposal issues in Pennsylvania. The resolution asks the Society to work with state agencies to convene a task force to resolve jurisdictional issues related to drug disposal programs, and to advocate that the AMA pursue similar projects nationwide.
The Society’s pilot for a medication drop-off program is already scheduled to launch at a site in Pittsburgh by spring 2010. The pilot, developed in coordination with Drug Free PA and the Allegheny County Medical Society, is designed to provide a model program that can be duplicated by county medical societies and other groups in their communities.
The Society has been working for more than a year to coordinate the logistics of a drop-off program with a range of interested state government agencies, law enforcement, and other community organizations. The goal is to make medication drop-off as simple, easy and routine as possible so that unused medications are no longer available for illicit use and the environment is safer from drug pollution.
Last Updated: 11/19/2009