New effort will make it easy to dispose of unused meds, lessen opioid abuse epidemic

MILWAUKEE -- The City of Milwaukee announced on Thursday, December 1st a first-of-its-kind effort to reduce the chances of unused or unwanted prescription drugs from adding to the area’s deadly heroin and opioid abuse epidemic. It's a new Drug Mail Back Program in partnership with CVS Pharmacy and the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD).

The Drug Mail Back Program will utilize free, tamper-proof mail back envelopes that will be made available to residents at 10 CVS Pharmacy locations in Milwaukee and Cudahy, at MMSD’s administrative office, and in Milwaukee and Cudahy police department precincts, as part of a two-year pilot program.

Under the program, residents will use envelopes pre-addressed to their local police department (Milwaukee or Cudahy) to mail back their unwanted/unused prescription drugs, getting them out of medicine cabinets where they might otherwise be abused or misused, and also preventing improper disposal methods that might otherwise harm our waterways or landfills.

Residents will be asked to empty contents of their unwanted prescription pills into the secure envelope, seal it and place it in the mail.  The empty plastic prescription vials can then be recycled.

Returned drugs will be stored by the Milwaukee and Cudahy Police Departments, and coordinated runs will be made through the DEA’s office and Wisconsin Department of Justice to have the drugs incinerated. USPS mailing processes will enable participating communities the ability to track locations and weight content of returned drugs.

Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel has voiced his strong support for the initiative. In a statement he said the following:

Kevin Shafer, executive director of MMSD issued this statement:

Below are the participating CVS locations:

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