AG Steve Marshall, CVS Health Announce Safe Drug Disposal Program in Alabama

MONTGOMERY — Attorney General Steve Marshall joined with CVS Health Chief Policy and External Affairs Officer Thomas Moriarty, Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Hale, Homewood Mayor Scott McBrayer and Homewood Police Chief Tim Ross to announce a safe medication disposal program in Alabama.

CVS Health has provided in-store drug disposal units at five of its stores in Alabama and also has equipped 36 law enforcement agencies with on-site disposal units to provide a regularly available means for people to properly discard unused medications.

“It is extremely dangerous to keep unused prescription drugs on hand when they are no longer needed,” said Attorney General Marshall. “Many of these are controlled substances, and opioids, in particular, can bring tragic results. We have had tremendous success with Drug Take-Back days in Alabama and these permanent collection sites provided by CVS Health are a valuable asset because now there is a way for people to
safely dispose of drugs year-round.”

Alabama ranks first in the nation for the number of painkiller prescriptions per capita, and Attorney General Marshall has made fighting opioid abuse a cornerstone of his administration. He serves as co-chair of the Alabama Opioid Overdose and Addiction Council which issued a comprehensive action plan last December. In February of this year, he filed a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma for the harm caused by its reckless marketing and sales of opioids.

“CVS Health is dedicated to addressing and preventing opioid abuse in the communities we serve in Alabama and across the country,” said Moriarty. “Expanding our safe medication disposal program to CVS Pharmacy locations in Alabama is one of the many initiatives we support to fulfill that commitment and our purpose of helping people on their path to better health.”

Homewood Mayor Scott McBrayer said, “I would like to thank CVS Health for choosing Homewood to officially launch their safe drug disposal program in Alabama. Keeping unused prescription drugs off the streets and out of the hands of those who might be harmed by them requires a team effort. Pharmacies, law enforcement and every citizen has a key role to play. I appreciate CVS Health for taking steps to reduce the likelihood of accidental poisoning and drug abuse in our community by making it easy to dispose of unused and expired medicines while shopping at our local CVS
Pharmacy.”

Homewood Police Chief Tim Ross said, “Drug abuse is an attack on every city that crosses all ethnic, age and economic backgrounds. One source of dangerous and addictive drugs is expired and forgotten prescription drugs left in home medicine cabinets. These unused drugs too often wind up in the hands of children or are sold on the streets. For this reason, we too have a drug disposal unit located in the lobby of the Homewood Police Department. Our headquarters is located at 1833 29th Avenue South in downtown Homewood. This disposal unit is accessible to the public 24 hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week. I am grateful to CVS Health for educating the public that they can make a difference by also dropping off old prescriptions for safe disposal at the CVS Pharmacy on West Valley Avenue in Homewood.”

In-store disposal units are available at certain CVS Pharmacy locations in Homewood, Birmingham, Russellville and Alabaster. In addition, CVS Health has provided collection units to law enforcement agencies in Anniston, Ardmore, Calera, Calhoun County, Helena, Cullman, Decatur, Demopolis, Florence, Fort Payne, Franklin County, Fultondale, Gardendale, Hartselle, Huntsville, Irondale, Jacksonville, Lanett, Lee County, Lineville, Mobile County, Shelby County and Vestavia Hills.

Law enforcement can partner with CVS to locate drug disposal units within their facilities. For more information on this program and to apply, visit this web link: https://m.cvs.com/content/prescription-drug-abuse/law-enforcement