Collection brings in 4,596 pounds of unused meds in Waukesha County

May 23, 2011
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By Laurel Walker of the Journal Sentinel

May 23, 2011 0

Waukesha - In Waukesha County's recent drug collection effort throughout the county, nearly two pounds of unused or outdated medication was dropped off for every vehicle that showed up.

In all, 4,596 pounds of medications - most of it non-prescription items - were dropped off at a half dozen collection sites. A total of 292 pounds of prescription drugs, 154 pounds of inhalants and mercury thermometers, and 4,150 pounds of non-controlled substances were dropped off by about 2,300 vehicles.

The May 14 collection was sponsored by the Waukesha County Drug Free Communities Coalition. The aim of the program is to reduce prescription abuse, accidental poisonings and prevent pollution of waterways from drugs flushed down drains.

Since 2009 when the program began, three collections have been held and nearly six tons of medication has been collected for disposal.

About Laurel Walker
Laurel Walker covered local, school and county government for 20 years -- the last half of that at the Milwaukee Journal and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel -- before she was named Waukesha County columnist in 1997. Today she writes about the people, places and events around metropolitan Milwaukee with a broad suburban focus. She was the youngest of nine children raised on a central Wisconsin farm before leaving the nest for journalism studies at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a masters degree at the University of Oregon. She has spent the last half of her life in Waukesha County, where she and her husband raised two sons. Though she has a fondness for life in Waukesha, she eagerly partakes in the culture of the big city to the east and the recreation of the forests to the west. With sons in the arts, she has a special fondness for symphonic music concerts and art museums. She finds peace in a good book at a Northwoods getaway weekend, adventure in family visits to the east and west coasts, and satisfaction in a column well-written that reaches readers.
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