Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services press release:

Six Humboldt County pharmacies are now accepting expired, unused or unwanted medications, including prescription, non-prescription, controlled and non-controlled substances and pet medications. 

Humboldt County has a high rate of prescription medication overdose deaths, and the new bins will help reduce the number of dangerous medications circulating through the community. Additionally, if disposed of improperly pharmaceutical waste can damage waterways and wildlife. Disposing of medication in these bins can help protect the environment.

In March 2016, Cloney’s Pharmacy set up medication disposal bins at its McKinleyville location and one of its Eureka locations. Since that time, four more pharmacies have followed suit.
The disposal bins are located at:

• Cloney’s Pharmacy, 1567 City Center Road, McKinleyville (near Safeway) 707-840-9923
• Cloney’s Pharmacy, 2515 Harrison Ave., Eureka, 707-443-7086
• Green’s Pharmacy, 906 Main St., Fortuna, 707-725-4431
• Palco Pharmacy, 113 Main St., Scotia, 707-764-3591
• Ring’s Pharmacy, 362 Main St., Ferndale, 707-786-4511
• Willow Creek Pharmacy, 39050 Highway 299, Willow Creek, 530-629-3144.

Medications should be removed from their containers and placed in a sealed plastic bag before being deposited into a bin. Please do not deposit medication bottles. 

Funding and support for the medication disposal bins are provided by a collaboration of Rx Safe Humboldt, St. Joseph Health, Humboldt Waste Management Authority, Humboldt Allies for Substance Abuse Prevention, the Independent Practice Association, the Humboldt County Department of Health & Human Services and local pharmacies. 

For more information about safe medication disposal, visit www.rxsafehumboldt.org or www.humboldtgov.org/2151/Prescription-Drug-Safety.