Drug Collection Unit Placed at Pine Creek Township Police Department
PINE CREEK TOWNSHIP – Clinton County District Attorney Dave Strouse has announced that his office and the Pine Creek Township Police Department have been awarded another grant from CVS/pharmacy to install a drug collection unit. The new unit will be located at the newly renovated Pine Creek Township Police Department at 31 Municipal Drive, in Pine Creek Township and will provide residents with a safe and environmentally responsible way to dispose of unwanted, unused or expired medication, including controlled substances.
The new unit is intended to reduce the amount of unneeded medicine in residents’ homes and decrease prescription drug abuse, which has soared in recent years, especially among teenagers. More than 70 percent of teenagers say it is easy to get prescription drugs from their parents’ medicine cabinets, according to a 2014 Partnership for Drug-Free Kids study.
The new unit will also help Pine Creek Township residents prevent the contamination of local landfills and water supplies from unused medication.
This collection box is the fourth to be installed in Clinton County, the others located at the Garden Building on East Main Street in Lock Haven, the Lock Haven City Police Department at City Hall, and Magisterial District Court 25-3-03 on Ninth Street in Renovo Borough.
The collection unit is the third obtained by the District Attorney’s Office under Strouse, who has made the issue a primary focus since he entered office. “Safely disposing of unused medication is critical to our continuing effort to protect our children and water supply,” said Strouse. “Clinton County is proud to partner with CVS/pharmacy and we thank them for their commitment to help residents reduce the amount of unneeded medicine in our community.” Strouse added, “I want to especially thank Pine Creek Township Police Chief Dave Winkleman and County Detective Jim Edwards for their efforts in securing this new unit.”
The new Drug Collection Unit represents one of 1,000 Units CVS/pharmacy and The Medicine Abuse Project (MAP), a five-year initiative of The Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, are providing across the country.
