Pharm Drop Allows East Meadow to 'Shed Meds' Properly

A lot of local residents are concerned about proper ways of disposing pharmaceuticals.

On Wednesday night, the Norma Gonsalves and CEMCO, the Council of East Meadow Community Organizations, gave East Meadow residents the opportunity to rid themselves of those medications the right way at the East Meadow Public Library.

Community Members David and Rose Santee appreciated this medication drop.  They had been holding onto the medications every since their family members passed away and didn't know what else to do with them.

"My medicines have been sitting in the cabinet for a long time," David said.  "My bag of pharmaceuticals has been in the basement and I have been waiting for an opportunity to do something with it that is safe for the environment," Rose added.

Similarly, Joanne Celentano had medicines lying around for years and said that this "Pharm Drop" was a good opportunity to clean out her stuff to get rid of all the expired stuff. 

"It was a good place to get rid of them because you can't dump them in the garbage and you can't dump them in the toilet," Celentano said.

This Pharmaceutical drop not only took old medicines, but they took syringes as well, which community member Maryann was excited about.

Legislator Norma Gonsalves sent roughly 25,000 fliers to East Meadow homes to advertise this "Pharm Drop."  She has organized this event for the past two years and will continue to do so annually.  She is even working to organize more "Pharm Drops" throughout the year, the next one probably will be held in January.

Officers Sharon Galvin and John Bilello were there to make sure the pharmaceuticals were disposed in the proper sanitary bags and they will take the bags back to the Police Department Property Bureau where they will get properly disposed according to the requirements of the law.