Lee Counties #1 Best Medication Disposal Program – Operation Medicine Cabinet

Operation Medicine Cabinet is a medication disposal program spearheaded by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. Safe disposal of medications and syringes used for medication is important to protect our local community. 

Unfortunately, it is not always clear what the most appropriate method for the disposal of these items is. Operation Medicine Cabinet is an effort to educate the community on how to properly dispose of unused medications and the potential consequences when people fail to dispose of unused medications properly.

“Many residents simply flush unused or expired medications down their drain. However our water treatment facilities are not designed to remove these types of contaminants from the water supply.”, “Another more immediate risk is that the unused medications are not disposed of and can potentially be abused by someone other than the individual for who the medication was intended.  “This abuse is happening more and more frequently and is cause for concern.”, says Jaimee Thompson with Abby Services of Fort Myers and Cape Coral.

This is not a safe or effective method of medication disposal. Originally Operation Medicine Cabinet collected unused medications which were properly disposed of in an undisclosed location. Currently, there are collection locations for safe and effective medication disposal listed below.

A recent survey conducted by The Department of Children and Family Services found that Lee County tops the state in prescription drug abuse. The study also found that 12.1 percent of Lee County students reported abusing prescription painkillers and 8.8 percent reported abusing depressants. A recent article in USA Today ties the use of prescription medications in adults directly to poisonings in children.

It is for these reasons Lee County Sheriff’s Office has partnered with Abby Services to bring Operation Medicine Cabinet to Lee County. See more about the medication disposal program in these articles.