Kinney Drugs installs medication disposal kiosks in 22 stores

Kinney Drugs, a 100% employee-owned leading pharmacy chain in New York and Vermont, has partnered with the NYS Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement and MED-Project to install self-service medication collection kiosks in 22 of its New York stores.

The stores are:

• East: Hamilton, Ilion, Richfield Springs, St. Johnsville;
• West: Auburn (Owasco Street), Lyons;
• North: Oswego, Lowville, Watertown (Coffeen Street), Gouverneur (Clinton Street), Lake Placid, Potsdam (Maple Street), Malone (Route 11), Plattsburgh (New York Road);
• South: Cortland (Clinton Avenue), Moravia;
• Central: Baldwinsville, East Syracuse (Manlius Center Road), North Syracuse (West Taft Road); and
• Syracuse (Genesee Street, Butternut Street, James Street, Nottingham Road, Lafayette Road.)

Anyone can use Kinney’s kiosks to dispose of unneeded medications, including leftover and expired medications. The kiosks accept prescription and over-the-counter medications for both humans and pets, including controlled substances.

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The kiosks are not for disposal of sharps needles (including EpiPens), medical biohazardous waste, regular or hazardous household trash or personal care products. The installation of these units brings Kinney to 30 kiosks in total, as the company had previously installed eight medication collection kiosks in its stores in Barre, Barton, Cambridge, Lyndonville, Newport, Saint Albans, Saint Johnsbury and Waterbury, Vt.

The New York installations were completed in time for National Poison Prevention Week, March 20-26, a week dedicated to raising awareness to the American Association of Poison Control Centers and the Poison Help Hotline (1-800-222-1222).

In 2020 (the latest year for which data are available), AAPCC poison centers responded to more than two million human exposure cases, 77% of which were unintentional. Approximately 40% of all poisonings involved prescription and/or OTC medications. In addition, 42% of all poisonings involved children under the age of five, Kinney noted.

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“It is crucially important to dispose of medications properly to prevent diversion into the wrong hands or the environment," John Marraffa, Kinney president, said. “As a pharmacy, Kinney Drugs is dedicated to keeping people healthy, and these disposal sites provide an easy, convenient way to safely dispose of unwanted medications.  As a pharmacist and father, I wholeheartedly support doing everything we can to help keep everyone — especially children — safe from harm.”