Southwest Mississippi residents turned in their old and unused prescription medications on Monday to the tune of four full boxes, according to Southwest Mississippi Narcotics Enforcement Unit officials.
Three boxes contained unused pills, while a fourth contained liquid medications, according to Southwest Mississippi Narcotics Enforcement Unit officer Tim Vanderslice.
Monday was the first day state-wide residents were able to turn in old medications since House Bill 423 became law on July 1.
Rep. Sam Mims V, R-McComb, the House Public Health and Human Services Committee chairman, authored the legislation. He says residents may turn in old medications the first Monday of each month at designated dropoff points.
Vanderslice said he was more than pleased by the local response to the pill disposal. Locally, residents dropped off medications at the Southwest Mississippi Narcotics Enforcement Unit office at 1201 N. Clark Ave. in Magnolia.
“I think it went quite well. We filled three boxes of pills and one box of liquid (medications),” Vanderslice said. “We never break it down, but I figured it will be 35 pounds per box.”
Vanderslice said people started arriving as early as 8 a.m., despite the 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. designated dropoff times.
The Southwest Mississippi Narcotics Enforcement Unit office serves Lincoln, Pike and Walthall counties. The drugs will be taken to Jackson, where they will be incinerated.
“I think it will get bigger and bigger once (the information) gets out,” Vanderslice said. “Next time, I want to do one here and one in Brookhaven. We would like to add Walthall County at a later time.”
Mims said he personally witnessed some of the drop-offs Monday morning.
“I’m very pleased with the outcome,” he said. “I sensed a lot of positive attention with this issue. The crowd was steady most of the day. The public seemed very pleased now with another option to use.”
One major concern behind the new law was keeping unused medications from getting into the hands of children and drug abusers.
Another concern was how medications might affect water and soil, should medications simply be thrown away or flushed in the toilet.
Gillis Drug Store pharmacist Tara Hennington was instrumental in getting the pill bill on track when she contacted Mims about such legislation some 18 months ago. She said she spoke with both Vanderslice and Mims after the dropoffs concluded Monday afternoon.
“They told me the people did their part,” Hennington said. “I would just like to stress that this isn’t a one-time deal, but the first Monday of each month that this program is available to us. The main thing was the response was great.”
Hennington said the location didn’t seem to cause any undue problems.
“I was concerned about the convenience with it being in Magnolia, but if you give the people a chance to do something good, they will do it,” Hennington said. “The citizens have responded and I’m very pleased.”
