Drug drop-off box a success

In the couple of months since it was installed, the medication drop-off box in the Shawano Police Department vestibule has been popular.

Chief Ed Whealon, Shawano Medical Center pharmacist Bob Probasco and Solid Waste Commission chairman Mike Schuler spent about 30 minutes Friday sorting what had been dropped off in the past few weeks. The trio poured prescription pills into a five-gallon pail and tossed over-the-counter meds into a garbage bag.

“We have been finding people have been cleaning out their closets and bringing this stuff in,” Schuler said.

By the time they were done, the pail was three-quarters full of packages and pills of various shapes and colors and the bag bulged with bottles.

The program goals are to keep these pills out of the landfill and water supply and to keep them off the streets, said Schuler, who’s also president of the Shawano Lake Sanitary District.

“Nothing we have at the Sanitary District can detect (the medications) and treat (the water),” Schuler said.

The street value of some of the medications brought in, especially painkillers and other controlled substances, is quite high and medications are a known target of burglaries across the nation.

One request organizers have is: Don’t pour pills into the drop-off box. Pills should be left in their original bottle or placed into a plastic bag. Whealon said people can tear their personal information off the packaging or cross it out. Also, please do not put sharps in the box; residents should take those to the city’s landfill on Rusch Road.

Whealon said the drop-off box, available 24 hours a day, is especially appreciated by families of the recently deceased.

“When a person passes away, families are tasked with cleaning up (the leftover medications) and doing the right thing with them,” Whealon said.

This way they can get rid of the medications right away in an acceptable manner instead of waiting for the next Clean Sweep, Schuler said.

The county held its first Clean Sweep last spring when residents brought old medications to a drop-off site, but he does not expect to hold another one for two to three years.

Probasco noted that by law, pharmacies are not allowed to take prescription returns.

Schuler said they will ask pharmacists to assist them in sorting the medication every few weeks on a rotating basis. Last month, Tim Dreier from Dreier’s Pharmacy helped sort.

The prescription medications will be held in a sealed container in the Police Department’s evidence room until they can be taken to a site in La Crosse, which sends them to St. Louis for incineration.

That part of the procedure is expensive because two licensed officers are required to take the drugs to La Crosse, Whealon said.

The bag with over-the-counter medication and plastic bottles are taken to the landfill, where it’s collected by a private company, Schuler said.

Drug drop-off box a success

In the couple of months since it was installed, the medication drop-off box in the Shawano Police Department vestibule has been popular.

Steady climb in numbers getting aid to buy food

Since last fall, the number of Wolf River Region residents receiving help to buy food has risen dramatically.

Area economy could start to rebound in spring, expert says

Amid dismal national economic news, including Friday’s announcement of a 7.2 percent U.S. unemployment rate, improvements may be seen this spring in Northeastern Wisconsin, an academic expert said.