CUBA — Two more pharmacies have joined the Take it To The Box initiative to properly dispose of medications.

Cuba Pharmacy, 2 Center St., Fisher’s Pharmacy, 138 N. Main St., Wellsville, are now offering free medication disposal boxes to the community. These two boxes now join the disposal box that was put in by Partners for Prevention in Allegany County in 2015 at the Fillmore Pharmacy. Cuba, Fisher’s and Fillmore Pharmacies are all part of Fillmore and Fisher Pharmacy Inc.

The pill drop boxes at Cuba and Fisher’s Pharmacy are the 13th and 14th Take It to the Box locations throughout Allegany County, which also include:
Alfred Pharmacy, 36 North Main St.
Alfred State’s Office of University Police, 10 Upper College Drive.
Allegany County Sheriff’s Office, 4884 NY-19, Belmont.
Cuba Police Department, 15 Water St.
Fillmore Pharmacy, 10560 NY-19.
Friendship Pharmacy, 9 West Main St.
Jones Memorial Hospital, 191 North Main St., Wellsville
Jones Memorial Medical Practice, 20 Main St., Andover.
Jones Memorial Medical Practice, 120 First St., Bolivar.
Nicholson Pharmacy, 36 Schuyler St., Belmont.
Tri-County Family Medicine, 12 North Church St., Canaseraga.
Wellsville Police Department, 46 South Main St.
Most people do not realize that the medication disposal initiative started because environmental agencies were finding medications in water supplies and in fish, said Partners in Prevention in Allegany County Coalition Coordinator Jonathan Chaffee. All collected medications are incinerated, which makes them useless to people and harmless to the environment.
The first Take It to the Box location was placed at the Allegany County Sheriff’s Office in 2012. The pill drop boxes and the bi-annual pill drop events held in conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Agency’s National Take Back Day have collected thousands of pounds of unused or unwanted medications from community members.

In 2022, community members disposed of 1,800 pounds of medications through the pill drop boxes and over 210 pounds through the Spring and Fall Pill Drop locations.

For more information on Take It to the Box visit https://ppaccentral.org/takeittothebox.

Local pharmacies are now handing out Take It to the Box pharmacy bags that include all the disposal locations throughout Allegany County. This project was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov.