ECPD offers residents a safe way to dispose of medications

The El Centro Police Department is giving community members a safe way of getting rid of their unwanted and expired medications.

The police department is now providing a drop-off kiosk that’s open 24/7 for the public.

Before this, law enforcement had to refer residents to the Drug Enforcement Administration who collect medications twice a year.

El Centro Police Department Commander Aaron Reel said, “They would do an open collection, take unwanted medications. This kind of draws a distinction between offering a service for our community and then having it more consistent-based.”

Commander Reel says residents are already taking advantage of the kiosk. “To be quite frank , it was an older couple that had medications that they were no longer taking. And wanted a means of getting rid of them. They seized that opportunity,” said Reel.

An official from the Imperial County Public Health Department said this will make it less time to consume for locals. Emergency Medical Service Preparedness Manager Chris Herring said, “Cleaning your medicine cabinet or cleaning out a family members’ medication cabinet. If you have that resource available to you when you’re done cleaning versus having to wait until one of those scheduled take-back days. You can take care of that problem get rid of those medications immediately kind of at your own convenience.”

Herring believes that this will save lives. “The more unwanted medication that we can dispose of properly, the less likely it is for a child or somebody else to get a hold of those medications and either unintentionally or intentionally overdose on them,” said Herring.

The Imperial County Public Health Department continues to work with local agencies on combating the issues of opioid and prescription drug overdoses.