New drug drop box at pharmacy seen as less intimidating than police station boxes

LORDS VALLEY — One of the biggest factors that keeps the epidemic of addiction raging is the flood of prescription opioids. Too many of these pills get into the wrong hands.
Curious teenagers get them out of medicine chests. Desperate addicts steal them. Others swipe them to resell at a high price.
On Monday morning, a drop box was installed at the Lords Valley Village Pharmacy on Route 739 to give people a way to safely dispose of their unused and outdated prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Not only will the drop box protect people, it will protect the environment. It offers an alternative to the polluting practice of flushing them, or sending them to a landfill.
The Jan. 9 press conference marked the official opening of a joint program between Pike County and the Lords Valley Village Pharmacy. It brings together the private and public sectors. The program took a year to put together, with county Commissioner Matt Osterberg leading the charge. The Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, the Pike County District Attorney's office, the Federal Justice Department, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Lords Valley Pharmacy all came together under Osterberg's leadership.
While drop boxes have been made available at the Pike County Sheriff's Office and the Eastern Regional Police station, this is the first one located in a private pharmacy under the care of a local district attorney's office. Osterberg said the police locations are "both inconvenient and intimidating to many residents. Inconvenient, since they are both located in the eastern section of the county while many residents live in the center and western part of the county, and intimidating, in that police stations are not places that residents feel comfortable visiting."
He noted that Pike is rural, and having a location in the west of the county is more convenient for many residents.
"But also, pharmacies are just more practical," he said. "People are more apt to be going to their local pharmacy than to their local police agency, so why not provide drop-off locations where residents purchase their medications, thus making it easier to dispose of unwanted pharmaceuticals."
Richard W. Long, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, commended all involved.
"Pike County can serve as a model for other counties as the battle versus the opioid crisis rages on," he said.
Anyone may drop off drugs any time the pharmacy is open. Its hours are:
Monday-Friday: 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
Saturday: 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
Sunday: Closed
The pharmacy's phone number is 570-775-9555.