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Prescription drug drop-off day looks to get drugs with street value out of homes

Police say drug drop-off could minimize the chances of being a target for break and enters; Naloxone kits, overdose education available for first time at annual event
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Const. Troy Miller, left, and Cnst. Mark Virtanen of the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service sort out medications during the annual prescription drug drop-off day at the Station Mall Saturday. James Hopkin/SooToday

The Sault Ste. Marie Police Service (SSMPS), in partnership with Algoma Public Health and Safe Communities, hosted its annual prescription drug drop-off day Saturday at the Station Mall.

“We get lots of over-the-counter medications, people cleaning out their whole medicine cabinet,” said SSMPS Cnst. Troy Miller. “Already today, I’ve had an item that I counted that was from 1998 - so people tend to hang on to things, and maybe not pay attention to the fact that they have them there.”

By early Saturday morning, there had already been a few hundred pills handed into SSMPS officers - some vitamins and over the counter medications, along with some Tylenol 3 and oxycodone.

“In the past we’ve got some fentanyl, some morphine - even liquid morphine, which is very dangerous on the street, and also very valuable on the street,” said Miller. “Those are the items we want to get, and we want to get more of.”

Allison McFarlane - who co-chairs the Sault Ste. Marie & Area Drug Strategy and serves as a public health nurse for Algoma Public Health - joined officers at the Station Mall drop-off table with roughly 20 naloxone kits available to the public, along with some free training and education.  

“I spend about 10 to 15 minutes with them, depending on their prior knowledge,” McFarlane said. “We go over what an overdose looks like, how to use the naloxone kit, after-care.”

Similar outreach programs have been held at the mall, as well as the Neighbourhood Resource Centre.

McFarlane says that she’s looking to increase those outreach sessions throughout the year.

“We’re in the middle of an opioid crisis right now, so getting naloxone into the hands of anybody that we can,” she told SooToday. “Whether using prescription drugs, whether it’s illicit drugs - anything that you’re using - if you are experiencing an opioid overdose, naloxone will help.”

As people shuffle toward the drop-off table with large, resealable bags of pills in tow, Miller says this drop-off day also enables police to get drugs out of houses and prevent them from surfacing on the streets.

“A lot of the drug trade or the subculture, in the last number of years, has turned to prescription narcotics or pills - and they do have a street value,” said Miller. “A lot of the pain medications that maybe you’re prescribed after surgery, that makes homes targets for break and enters.”

“We encourage the public to bring these items in and get them out of their house. Ultimately they could bring them to the pharmacy any time for that reason,” he continued. “However, as a police service, we see it as an important initiative to try and help the community, and enlist their assistance in protecting themselves and minimizing the likelihood that they could be a target for a break and enter.”

Over the counter medications will be destroyed by SSMPS, while scheduled substances - or narcotics - are logged and submitted to the exhibit officer, who then turns them over to Health Canada in order to be destroyed.


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James Hopkin

About the Author: James Hopkin

James Hopkin is a reporter for SooToday in Sault Ste. Marie
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