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 sheriff’s office Strategic Diversion Taskforce, a pharmaceutical task force, is working with seven other law enforcement agencies 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

Central Pinellas County:

Seminole Mall (Kmart side), 7949 113th St. N., Seminole

Sweetbay Supermarket, 2460 East Bay Drive, Largo

Walgreens, 7400 66th St., Pinellas Park

North Pinellas County:

Sweetbay Supermarket, 1681 Main St., Dunedin

Walgreens, 1880 N. Belcher Road, Clearwater

Walgreens, 3770 Tampa Road, Oldsmar

Walgreens, 605 S. Pinellas Ave., Tarpon Springs 

Dropoff sites at the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office main building in Largo and North District Station in Dunedin will not be accepting medications Saturday as a result of the event. All prescription medications should be taken to an event dropoff site.