Police chiefs throughout the Lehigh Valley, along with Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin gathered at the Upper Macungie Police Department headquarters, Breinigsville, Dec. 17, 2013, to participate in an announcement regarding prescription drug safety and to unveil MedRetun boxes that will be placed in 10 Lehigh County municipalities.

Lehigh County residents who have expired and unused over-the-counter and prescription medications will be able to discard those medications in these permanent collection boxes installed in police departments in Lehigh County.

The boxes, which usually cost $500 and are similar to mailboxes, have been delivered to the 10 Lehigh County police departments.

These departments applied for grants through a program of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs and the Commission on Crime and Delinquency, as part of Gov. Tom Corbett's Healthy PA Initiative.

The MedReturn boxes were provided for free to police departments that submitted successful grant applications.

District Attorney James B. Martin and members of his staff worked with police chiefs to identify departments located throughout the county so there would be numerous convenient locations for residents.

The news conference was also attended by Ken Martz, director of the Bureau of Treatment, Prevention and Intervention, Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs; Donna Zimmerman, executive director of Lehigh County Aging and Adult Services; Darbe George, administrator of Drug and Alcohol in Lehigh County; Jim Carlisle, manager of injury prevention and emergency preparedness for the Allentown Health Bureau; and police chiefs where the boxes have been installed.

"County residents have responded enthusiastically to the twice yearly drug collections that have been coordinated by my office, police departments, the Pa. State Police, the U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration and the Allentown Health Bureau," Martin said. "Because of that positive response to the National Take Back Day collections held since 2010, I wanted to ensure that residents could take medications to drop-off locations on a more timely basis.

"This grant provides for 10 boxes for safe disposal of medications year round and means residents will not have to wait six months or more for the next collection.

"This is an important initiative from a public safety and health standpoint because residents won't have accumulations of medications in their homes."

Martin said in addition to enhancing public safety and promoting the health of county residents, the boxes help to reduce environmental risks because they give residents an alternative to discarding medications in landfills or in drains where they can end up in the water supply.

The boxes have been installed at these departments where medications can be discarded on the days and hours listed below:

·Slatington Police Department, 125 S. Walnut St., 10 a.m. -2 p.m. Sunday through Thursday;

·South Whitehall Police Department, 4444 Walbert Ave., 8 a.m.-4 p.m. excluding holidays, Monday through Friday; and

·Upper Macungie Police Department, 37 Grim Road, 8 a.m.-4 p.m., excluding holidays, Monday through Friday.

Detectives with the Drug Task Force will pick up the discarded medications.

The collected medications will be incinerated in cooperation with the Berks County District Attorney's Office through the Berks County Solid Waste Management contract with an incinerator in York County, which is an authorized facility designated to perform the destruction of controlled substances.

The one-way collection boxes are bolted to the floor to prohibit removal of the boxes and retrieval of medications from within the boxes without proper authorization.

The boxes, which are the MedReturn II model, are 55 inches tall, 22 inches wide and 17 inches deep and weigh 120 pounds.

Residents can place medications in the boxes anonymously.

There is no fee to residents for this service and no requirement to provide personal information or identification when using the box.

Signs are posted on each box informing residents of the types of items that can be placed in the boxes and those that are not accepted.

Items that are accepted are prescription and over-the-counter medications, samples, vitamins, prescription ointments, prescription patches and pet medications.

Items not accepted are syringes, needles, Sharps or other sharp objects, medications from businesses and clinics, lotions or liquids, aerosol cans, inhalers, hydrogen peroxide and thermometers.