Operation Medicine Cabinet Aims to Keep Drugs Off Street

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office is taking preventative action to combat illegally obtained prescription drugs in the sixth installment of Operation Medicine Cabinet.

“A lot of these medications on the streets are coming from medicine cabinets,” said Sgt. Dan Zsido, liaison and coordinator for Operation Medicine Cabinet.

Since May 2009, the county has collected 4,300 pounds of prescription medication. Pinellas County leads the state in the number of dropoff locations with 13, Zsido said.

The took part in an Operation Medicine Cabinet collection site in April of this year. They collected 34.1 pounds of solid medications and 24.9 pounds of liquid, totaling 59 pounds. That contributed to the Pinellas County total of 776.8 pounds of prescription medications collected during the one day event.

The sheriff’s office Strategic Diversion Taskforce, a pharmaceutical task force, is working with seven other law enforcement agencies, this Saturday, to prevent unused prescription medications from getting to the street. 

The event is being held at 13 locations from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

Citizens should safely discard unused or expired prescription medications, but not flush them down the drain, which can create an environmental problem, Zsido said. 

The sheriff’s office says that prescription medications kept in the home should be locked away from children. Zsido said he advises residents to lock them away from visitors or employees who can easily take personal information from the prescription and order medicine in the person’s name.

“It’s amazing what folks will do to get them," Zsido said of the medications.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2010 Pinellas and Pasco counties led the state in oxycodone, xanax, methadone and hydrocodone deaths.

Zsido says after 30 years of working in the sheriff’s office, he hasn’t seen any other problem like it. “Prescription drug sales and deaths outweigh those of illicit drugs by 4 to 1,” he said. 

This weekend's event aims to get the community involved and to educate the public on the problem.

Prescription-drug-related crimes have spiked since 2007, Zsido said.

“It’s beyond epidemic proportions," he said.

Operation Medicine Cabinet dropoff sites 

South Pinellas County:

• Dolphin Village Shopping Center, 4655 Gulf Blvd., St. Pete Beach
• Sweetbay Supermarket, 6851 Gulfport Blvd., South Pasadena
• Walgreens, 3077 54th Ave. S, St. Petersburg
• Walgreens, 3851 Fourth St. N, St. Petersburg
• Walgreens, 3994 Tyrone Blvd., St. Petersburg
• Walgreens, 10551 Gulf Blvd., Treasure Island