By Patricia Bogumil
Staff Writer
In a sure sign of the times, the Town of Waterford recently set up a drive-up drug collection box that is positioned outside the Town Police Department at 415 N. Milwaukee St.
The box offers a safe and alternative way for people throughout western Racine County to dispose of expired or unwanted prescriptions and over-the-counter medicines, including ointments and lotions.
Similar boxes exist in Sturtevant and the City of Racine.
But Waterford’s unit is the only drive-up collection box, in which people may turn in unwanted medication anonymously.
It mainly serves people living in the county’s western communities, including Union Grove, Rochester, Burlington and Wind Lake.
“This is going to be great for these communities, because there are so many people who have old prescriptions at home. These are just a danger to themselves and others,” explained Francie McGuire Winkler, with the Racine County Youth Coalition (RCYC).
Next to marijuana, the most common illegal drugs used by teens to get high are prescription medicines they find at home or at their friends’ homes, explained Megan Croes, an RCYC coordinator.
“We know prescription medications are also stolen from grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends’ families and others,” said Police Chief Tom Ditscheit of the Waterford Town Police.
“This is especially dangerous because they don’t know the potential damage that can be caused by legal drugs, and they don’t know the effects of different dosages.”
Another benefit to the new project, Ditscheit added: Reducing the amount of medications flushed down toilets or taken to the dump that can then seep into drinking water.
Items that cannot be collected include needles, thermometers, bloody or infectious waste, medication from businesses or clinics, hydrogen peroxide, aerosol cans and inhalers.
The collection box project is a collaboration between the police departments and RCYC, The Runzheimer Foundation, Focus on Community and Drug Free Communities.
Waterford’s drive-up box is positioned outside the town police department, near the window to Ditscheit’s office.
It is monitored for security purposes 24/7/365, Ditscheit said.
In Burlington, the Western Racine County Health Department has been working with Police Chief Peter Nimmer to get a collection box installed there, but a commitment has not yet been made, said WRCHD director Cheryl Mazmanian,
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