Sag Harbor Pharmacy Creates New Medication Disposal Method

Sag Harbor residents can now dispose of unwanted, expired and unused medications has been at a local pharmacy.

President and CEO of Southampton Hospital, announced Southampton Hospital sponsorship to create a pharmaceutical collection receptacle at Sag Harbor Pharmacy on 120 Main Street.

The program was created in order for medications to be disposed of ’responsibly’ in order to ensure that it does not end up in the drinking water.

“Water quality is a major concern for Long Island and we need to protect our drinking water from many kinds of potential contaminants, including unwanted medications that might otherwise be flushed into our groundwater,” Chaloner. “

The collection receptacle was supplied by Lloyd Magothy Water Trust, Inc.

Pharmacist Jeff Yohai, the new owner of Sag Harbor Pharmacy, says the new disposal method is also a good way to prevent prescription drug abuse.

“Having the Big Red Med Disposal Box here in Sag Harbor Pharmacy is a great benefit for our community,” he said. “We need to do our best to keep old prescription medications out of the hands of small children who might accidentally ingest them, and out of the hands of any teens who might seek to use medications for non-medical use.”

For now, the pharamacy will only collect non-controlled medications until the New York State Bureau of Narcotics updates their regulations, according to Yohai.

The Big Red Med Disposal Box at the Sag Harbor Pharmacy meets the Drug Enforcement Administration’s regulations to implement the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010.

Both Yohai and Chaloner hope that their collaboration for responsible medication disposal at the local pharmacy will stimulate other pharmacies to sponsor disposal b oxes and help expand this valuable program in other communities.