Hundreds of residents took advantage of the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office’s opportunity on Saturday to rid their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs.
The 2020 event was hosted by Wal-Mart at Buffalo Ridge Plaza in The Villages.
Residents were able to drive up to the sheriff’s office detail led by Lt. Robert Siemer and hand over their old unwanted medications to a deputy for disposal. The turnout was very heavy and dozens of garbage bags had been collected in the first hour, Siemer said.
Rozanne Grady, coordinator of the Sumter Community Action Partnership Drug Free Coalition, provided drug deactivation packets for residents to take home for future safe disposal of medications. Grady said that the heavy turnout of residents was due to the impact that the COVID-19 virus has had on Sumter County. A previously scheduled drug collection scheduled for this past March had been canceled due to the pandemic.
Local drop off locations at local sheriff’s offices also had been closed so demand for aid in properly disposing of unused medications was greater than normal.
In addition to the Sumter County Operation Medicine Cabinet Take Back Day, there are many other ways to dispose of unwanted prescription drugs every day, including the permanent drop box locations available all year long in each of the Sumter County Sheriff’s Offices located in Bushnell, Wildwood and The Villages.