Operation Medicine Cabinet

Operation Medicine Cabinet Overview

OMC has two goals: to stop pharmaceutical flushing that pollutes water and to eliminate unused medications unsafely stored in households, which can cause unintentional poisoning or be misappropriated. OMC partners law enforcement with the public through Take-Back events that provide a safe, anonymous opportunity for the public to dispose of unused medicines. Through events and education, OMC increases both public and organizational participation to reduce the harmful practice of pharmaceutical flushing.

UPDATE: During Poison Prevention week the Winston Salem event collected 67,645 doses, which is up from the 58,196 doses collected in the fall.  In the same week Mecklenburg county have collected 123,670 doses with 6 more drops to take place in April.  Click HERE for additional dates and locations!

Thanks to a 3 year grant awarded from The Women's Impact Fund, Yadkin Riverkeeper's efforts will be greatly expanded, especially in the lower part of the river basin. This expansion will include the collaboration of even more diverse partners in the effort to educate the public on the proper disposal methods for pharmaceutical medications - keeping these substances out of our water supply and also keeping them from being misappropriated.

OMD Public Website: www.omd-nc.org

Operation Medicine Cabinet featured in the Charlotte Observer here.

Program Details
This program is an integrated campaign of public and legislative awareness, education, and behavior change that will reduce the damage being done to the watersheds of North Carolina by the untreated discharge of pharmaceuticals into our waterways. It creates important connections between communities and conservation issues, and provides a practical lesson on the interrelated nature of human behavior and the environment. In 2000 the U.S. Geological Survey identified 100 different pharmaceuticals in surface waters, leading them to conclude that significant contamination is occurring in over 80% of U.S. waterways tested.

Operation Medicine Cabine also addresses accidental poisoning and abuse prevention, which are critical public health concerns associated with the improper disposal of pharmaceuticals. Forty percent of drugs dispensed are never used, creating significant opportunities for abuse, illegal distribution, and accidental poisonings.

By campaigning for the proper disposal of unused medications via take-back events with law enforcement, Operation Medicine Cabinet seeks to remove these substances from our drinking water supply while also keeping them from being misappropriated. Working with medical establishment to alter their directives to the public on proper medication disposal is also a goal.

Pharmaceutical flushing is an environmental and public health threat. Forty-percent of prescribed drugs go unused and are improperly stored in homes, contributing to unintentional poisoning, the 2nd leading cause of accidental death in NC. Further, 56% of people 12 years or older who abuse prescription drugs obtained them from a friend, family member, or medicine cabinet. The standard directive from medical professionals is flushing, showing a clear need for institutional reform. Take-back events and education will increase awareness of this issue and shed light on the threat to aquatic life and our drinking water.

The main goals of Operation Medicine Cabinet are to:

• Reduce the number of accidental poisonings or inappropriate use of improperly stored medications.
• Reduce the harmful impacts of pharmaceutical flushing on local waterways and drinking water through public education and altering institutional practices.
• Increase awareness of proper medication disposal techniques and empower the community to act to keep its people and its waters healthy.

 To Learn More Click Here.

Program Background and Update

Whether you are an average citizen flushing one prescription-based narcotic down the drain or one of many major health care facilities which flush 250 million pounds of pharmaceuticals every year, pharmaceutical contamination is an emerging environmental threat to all North Carolina waterways. 

Operation Medicine Cabinet will change the way North Carolinian’s disposed of unused, unwanted, and expired medications. Every single day, some type of legal or illegal drug is being flushed into our waterways. It is critical to environmental and human health in every community that pharmaceuticals be promptly and safely destroyed. However, currently in North Carolina there is no requirement for the practice of pharmaceutical flushing to be modified, changed, or even discouraged. With health care providers and facilities still recommending drug flushing, this emerging environmental threat will continue to affect our waterways, which includes our drinking water. Only a change in practice will stem the flow of pharmaceuticals in our beautiful watersheds throughout North Carolina.

Yadkin Riverkeeper is partnering with other organizations such as SafeKids NC, the SBI, and the DEA to implement Operation Medicine Cabinet (OMC) in communities along the Yadkin River.  YRK launched the inaugural take-back event in March during poison prevention week and include more areas in a September take-back event.

This collaborative partnership will raise awareness of and take action against the harmful practice of pharmaceutical flushing/dumping. NC’s waters are particularly vulnerable to impacts from pharmaceutical contamination. Studies have linked reproductive problems and lowered immune response in fish and frogs to pharmaceutical hormone exposure. In a nationwide study the occurrence of intersex fish was most prevalent (91%) in the Yadkin Pee Dee watershed.

Through education and prescription drug take-back events, Yadkin Riverkeeper hopes to take the lead in implementing an OMC statewide campaign to keep prescription drugs off the street while educating the public about the negative impacts prescription drugs have on aquatic life and drinking water supplies—and ultimately create policy change in Raleigh regarding this issue.