Officers collecting unused medications this Saturday

People will be able to dispose of unused or expired medications this Saturday in Cathlamet.

Members of the Wahkiakum County Sheriff’s Office and Wahkiakum Community Network will collect the medications from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Saturday in the Cathlamet Pharmacy parking lot.

The collection is for prescription and over the counter drugs and medications.

The main goal of the collection is to keep the chemicals out of the groundwater and environment, said Undersheriff Gary Howell. People shouldn’t throw them into the garbage or flush them into septic or municipal sewer systems.

The collection is part of an annual collection program set up by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, Howell said. The medications will go to the DEA for incineration.

People concerned about personal information on prescription bottles may peel off labels or use a marker to black out writing he said.

The sheriff’s office plans to set up secure collection boxes throughout the county so that people could dispose of unwanted medications at any time, but there are many details.

“We have to work out with the DEA the collection and handling and storage of the materials until we could turn them over to the DEA,” Howell said.