Drug Mail Back Program Launches Thursday to Help Ease Opioid Epidemic

(Originally published by FOX 6) MILWAUKEE, WI — A pilot program to safely dispose of unused or unwanted prescription drugs and curb opioid abuse will be offered by the city of Milwaukee. The Drug Mail Back program will use free, tamper-proof mail-back envelopes that will be made available at 10 local CVS Pharmacy locations in Milwaukee and Cudahy, at the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District’s administrative office, and in Milwaukee and Cudahy police department precincts.

Under the two-year program, residents will use envelopes pre-addressed to their local police department to mail back their unwanted/unused prescription drugs. The aim is to keep the drugs out of medicine cabinets where they might be abused or misused, and also prevent residents from flushing medicines down the toilet or otherwise improperly disposing of them.

Kevin Shafer, Executive Director of MMSD, told FOX6, “Making it easier for people to properly dispose unused pharmaceuticals will help get more drugs off the street and out of the environment. You should not flush or pour old medicine into the sewer system. Our water reclamation facilities are not designed to remove them and they can end up in Lake Michigan.”

Returned drugs will be stored by the Milwaukee and Cudahy Police Departments, and eventually incinerated. USPS mailing processes will enable participating communities the ability to track locations and weight content of returned drugs.

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