Welcome to North Shore Health Department North Shore Health Department Highlights 4/23/2019 Did you know? All seven police departments in the North Shore are regularly available to receive and properly dispose of expired or unused personal medications. The Police Departments of Bayside, Glendale, Shorewood and Whitefish Bay will be participating in the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Statewide Prescription Drug Take Back Initiative on Saturday, April 27 from 10am-2pm, along with many other community partners. Bring: Prescription (controlled and non-controlled) and over-the-counter medications, ointments, patches, non-aerosol sprays, inhalers, creams, vials and pet medications. Contact the location you plan to visit as to that location’s ability to accept liquids/non-solid medications. While solid medications (pills/capsules) should be placed in a zip-lock plastic bag, liquids and creams need to remain in their original labeled containers. Do Not Bring: Illegal drugs, needles/sharps, aerosol cans, bio-hazardous materials (anything containing a bodily fluid or blood), mercury thermometers, personal care products (shampoo, soaps, lotions, sunscreens, etc.), household hazardous waste (paint, pesticides, oil, gas). The goal of this event is to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposal of prescription medications, while also educating the general public about the potential problems caused by these medications. Unused prescription medications in homes create a public health and safety concern because they can be accidentally ingested, stolen, misused, and abused. In general, it is not recommended that unused medications be flushed or poured down the drain, as water reclamation facilities are not designed to remove all medications and trace amounts of pharmaceuticals are showing up in rivers and lakes around the world. However, some medications are so dangerous and prone to abuse/overdose risk that the FDA actually does suggest flushing instead of keeping in your home (list can be found at https://www.fda.gov/downloads/drugs/resourcesforyou/consumers/buyingusingmedicinesafely/ensuringsafeuseofmedicine/safedisposalofmedicines/ucm337803.pdf). Properly disposing of unused drugs year round at police stations and on Take Back Days like April 27th remove potentially dangerous pharmaceutical substances from our state's medicine cabinets and will help to prevent them from going into our water supply. For locations of the North Shore Police Departments, and other locations participating in the Drug Take Back Day, visit https://takebackday.dea.gov/ Missed the highlights? Click here to view previous highlights.