Inside the Greenvale Pharmacy, near the front register and candy display, now sits a red metal box with a slight drop-down door and yellow medical sign.
It is known as the “Big Red Box,” constructed in conjunction with the Southampton-based non-profit Lloyd Magothy Water Trust, Inc. to meet Drug Enforcement Agency regulations for the purpose of collecting and disposing unused and unwanted pharmaceuticals.
And officials said it’s the first of its kind to arrive in Nassau County.
“We need to do our best to keep prescription medications out of the hands of small children who might accidentally ingest medications and out of the hands of some teens who might seek to divert medications for non-medical use,” said Michael Raduazzo, the owner of Greenvale Pharmacy, located at 5 Northern Boulevard, in a statement.
“Getting rid of unwanted medications that are unnecessarily stored in household medicine cabinets reduces the chance of prescription drug abuse,” he added.
The Lloyd Magothy Water Trust, unaffiliated with any existing municipal drug disposal initiative, was created last year to tackle regional environmental and health issues, said Thomas McAbee, the non-profit’s executive director.
Boxes have been placed in four pharmacies in Suffolk County as well as in Niagra Falls, McAbee said. Collected drugs are then destroyed at the Covanta MacArthur waste facility in Ronkonkama.
The Greenvale Pharmacy box was installed on March 11 under the guidance of East Hills resident Adam Haber, who in addition to serving as a trustee on the Roslyn board of education is also a member of the trust’s board of directors.
There is no timetable for how long the box will remain in operation, McCabe said.
“We need to protect our drinking water from many kinds of potential contaminants, including unwanted medications that might otherwise be flushed into our groundwater,” Haber said in a statement. “Water quality is a major concern.”
Haber last year unsuccessfully challenged state Sen. Jack Martins in the 7th state Senate District race, receiving the endorsement of the non-profit Long Island Environmental Voters Forum during the campaign.
He also won a Green Party primary for the race but was not formally endorsed by party officials who wanted a candidate independent of major party ties represented on the ballot.
In a news release from the trust, Haber said he would underwrite the cost of disposing of drugs deposited into the box for up to one year.
McAbee said Monday that said one box could fill up to 40 pounds of pharmaceuticals and cost between $100 and $150 to dispose.
