A press release from McHenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally:
LEGISLATION SPONSORED BY THE MCHENRY COUNTY SUBSTANCE ABUSE COALITION IS SIGNED INTO LAW MAKING IT EASIER TO DISPOSE OF UNUSED PRESCRIPTION DRUGS
The McHenry County Substance Abuse Coalition is pleased to announce legislation it proposed, House Bill 524, has recently been signed into law by Governor Rauner.
The bill amends the Safe Pharmaceutical Disposal Act to allow pharmaceuticals collected by a city, village, or municipality to be destroyed by a destruction device by a law enforcement agency.
“Recent experience has shown that unused prescriptions, especially opioids, only stop truly being a threat when they are destroyed,” said Patrick Kenneally, McHenry County State’s Attorney and co-author of the bill.
“This bill allows police agencies to immediately destroy those unused prescription drugs that citizens are encouraged to voluntarily turn over.”
Jason Sterwerf, the Chairman of the McHenry County Substance Abuse Coalition, described the bill as “a beneficial piece of legislation which addresses an important need in our community.”
Currently, police may only destroy those illegal and prescription drugs acquired during the course of a criminal investigation.
Those drugs turned over by the public must be stored in evidence until the Drug Enforcement Agency picks them up for destruction at federal facilities.
This inefficient process can result in large backlogs of illegal and prescription drugs sitting in police evidence lockers for months awaiting retrieval by the DEA.
The Coalition is currently working with partners to acquire an Illinois Environmental Protection Agency approved incinerator that law enforcement can use to destroy the drugs collected.
The McHenry County Substance Abuse Coalition wishes to thank Senator Pamela Althoff and Representative Barbara Wheeler for sponsoring the bill and shepherding it through the enactment process.
No offense to the majority of law enforcement who do a fantastic job but we do know it also harbors its share of scumbags.
Last place I would bring any prescription drugs.
House Bill 0524 (HB 524) in the 100th General Assembly was signed into law as Public Act 100-0250 (PA 100-0250) by Republican Governor Bruce Rauner on August 22, 2017.
Senate Roll Call on May 29, 2017 – 55 Yeas, 0 Nays, 0 Present, 4 Not Voting (NV)
House Roll Call on April 7, 2017 – 106 Yeas, 0 Nays, 0 Present, 1 Absent (A), 12 Excused Absences (E)
Bill was sent to the Governor on June 27, 2017.
http://www.ilga.gov > Bills & Resolutions > House Bills > 0501 – 0600 > HB 0524 Safe Pharmaceuticals
Make that 105 Yeas in the House.
This is such a pressing, earth-shaking issue, I spend my nights sleepless tossing and turning, worried about this momentous matter!
Yeah, right!
These kind of superfluous laws may give the buffoon-legislators a sense of actually doing something positive for a change, while they ignore the state’s real catastrophic problems.
these laws are like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic, an hour after the iceberg strike!
Very true.
IDK about this law.
It’s really not too hard to dispose of drugs yourself if you want to get rid of them.
I know you are not supposed to flush them down the toilet, but I have my doubts as to how harmful flushing a small quantity really is.
There are lots of other ways to get rid of them if you are worried about them getting in the water supply.
Removing the logging requirement at the police station would seem to make it easier for an unscrupulous cop to take them home – we have some experience with that in McHenry County.
The ability of a municipal wastewater treatment plant to remove prescriptions drugs from the waste water varies by treatment plant.
Plus, the totality of everyone flushing drugs down the toilet would need to be taken into consideration.
The treated wastewater goes somewhere, taking with it whatever prescription drugs are not removed by the treatment plan.
“The bill amends the Safe Pharmaceutical Disposal Act to allow pharmaceuticals collected by a city, village, or municipality to be destroyed by a destruction device by a law enforcement agency” congratulations. Adjourned.