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VOL. 44 NO. 22 www.shoreviewpress.com $1.00
SUSTAINABILITY: Shoreview awarded for eco plans PAGE 5
Keep opioids off the streets, vitamins out of landfills BY SARA MARIE MOORE EDITOR
From pharmacies to public safety buildings, there are several places to drop off unused drugs and pills in northern Ramsey County. The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office collected and turned into energy 11,232 pounds of unused medicine in 2018, said Randy Gustafson, communications coordinator. The sheriff’s office has two locations at its buildings — the patrol station in Arden Hills and the downtown St. Paul office. It also coordinates collection at four police department sites — Maplewood, New Brighton, North St. Paul and White Bear Lake. The sheriff’s office collects the drugs and send them to be burned and turned into energy by Ramsey County Public Health at least once a month, Gustafson said. It’s been collecting drugs and pills for nearly a decade now. “Every day is a drug take back day,” Gustafson noted. The office accepts any pills you would keep in your medicine cabinet — from opioids to aspirin to vitamins, and even pet medicine. It accepts powers, sprays, creams, inhalers, IV bags and patches. It accepts unused epipens but no used sharps. The Ramsey County Hazardous Waste site in St. Paul receives sharps free of charge.
Ramsey County’s goal is twofold. First, dropping off drugs like opioids can prevent both the patient and others who see the unused drugs from the temptation of using them when they are not needed. It’s common for people to only need to use half a supply of pills. Second, it keeps thousands of pounds of pills out of the landfi ll or in the public water system. There is an environmental impact to flushing pills down the toilet or throwing them in the trash. Walgreens Pharmacy on Highway 96 in White Bear Lake also accepts unused medicines. Customers can come in and drop medicines in the self-serve, locked bin next to the pharmacy counter, said Store Manager Bonnie Rennert. CVS Pharmacy on Highway 61 in White Bear Lake also has a drop box, said Pharmacist Sam Akers. Neither location accepts needles. Minnesotans spend about $1,400 per capita annually on prescription drugs, according to a 2018 study by Kaiser Family Foundation and analyzed by The Senior List. In 2017, about 6 million Americans misused controlled prescription drugs, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The majority of misuse occurred when someone found unused medicines of family
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Take back your extra drugs These locations in northern Ramsey take back unused prescription drugs year-round. Opioids put in the trash can end up in the hands of drug dealers on the streets.
Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Station 1411 Paul Kirkwold Dr., Arden Hills, 55112 651-633-3279 White Bear Lake Public Safety Building 4701 Hwy. 6, White Bear Lake, 55110 651-633-3279 Walgreens Pharmacy 1075 Hwy. 96 E, White Bear Lake, 55127 651-426-9225 CVS Pharmacy 4800 Hwy. 61 White Bear Lake, 55110 651-762-3864
SEE DRUG TAKE BACK, PAGE 8
SARA MARIE MOORE | PRESS PUBLICATIONS
Rounding up young bikers Braeden, 7, of Shoreview learns how to stop at a crosswalk with the assistance of a Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office Community Affairs Officer volunteer.
SHOREVIEW
Neeraj, 4, of Shoreview, navigates through a bike course at Island Lake Regional Park in Shoreview June 13. The Bike Rodeo for young riders to learn the rules of the road was hosted by the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office.
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Haddie, 6, of Roseville, learns how an electronic-powered stretcher in an ambulance works from Allina Health EMT Troy Wesson.
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