Representatives from the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department were on hand at Deer Park High School on the evening of Sept. 27, accepting unwanted, unused prescription medications at the latest event in the “Shed the Meds” initiative sponsored by Suffolk County Legislator Lou D’Amaro.

This ongoing drug give-back project has two-fold aims: to prevent hazardous chemicals that could be present in the medications from entering the area’s groundwater system, and to keep them out of the hands of individuals who might be tempted to abuse them.

“Better that they drop them off with us than dump them into our water supply,” said Deputy Dennis Creter, who manned a booth in the school’s lobby with partner Carl Vultaggio, timed to coincide with the school’s scheduled “Back to School” show featuring David Darwin. Creter noted that halfway through the event, they had already received over a dozen large bags worth of potentially hazardous medications that could now be safely handled by the department.

Shed the Meds is the first of many planned drug- and alcohol-education programs throughout the Deer Park School District. These programs will all take a proactive approach – tailored to each school in the district – to involve the entire school community in helping to solve these societal issues.