Approve the Cochise County Medication Disposal Program, a two phase collaborative program between the Cochise County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) and Cochise Health & Social Services (CHSS) with Phase I beginning by May 1, 2014, and approval to move forward with formal research and gathering community support for Phase II.

CHSS and CCSO have developed a countywide Medication Disposal Program. Our goal is to further fulfill our departments' mission statements which are centered on improving public health and public safety. This program will provide Cochise County residents with a free, environmentally safe method to dispose of unwanted prescription medications. This program will prevent illness, abuse or overdose by children and adults from prescription medications and will also protect our environment and water supply by providing a convenient and safe method to dispose of these medications. The program we have developed is simple, free to the public, will be accessible in ten (10) communities around the County. It will be a low cost program to run, once the initial purchases and deployment are complete. In order for residents to participate in our program all they will need to do is seek out a disposal unit, read the accepted medications list provided on it, and drop in their acceptable, unwanted medications. There is no cost or paperwork required of residents. This type of program has been operational in the City of Sierra Vista with great success but is not convenient for residents in other areas of our County. We have seen good community support and interest in this program. As a result of this interest, with the help of Carol Capas, CCSO PIO we were able to easily identify the ten communities for the program to be initiated. We are confident that with a wide distribution around Cochise County it will make the disposal units easily accessible for all residents. The community agencies that have agreed to participate in our program are as follows: Bisbee Police Department, Benson Hospital, Elfrida Fire Department, Tombstone Fire Department, Whetstone Fire Department, Huachuca City Fire Department, Douglas Fire Department, Fry Fire Department (SV),Sunsites Fire Department and the Willcox Police Department. Our proposal consists of two phases. Phase I: Purchase ten (10) MedReturn II Units ($6,750), a portable 55 gallon barrel incinerator ($3,400), addition of Cochise County and CCSO logos on all Med Return II Units ($2,000), and provide installation at the ten (10) designated locations of the MedReturn II Units ($1,850) . The total cost for Phase I will be $14,000. CHSS will provide full funding for Phase I with the use of our Community Health Assessment (CHA) Grant received in FY12-13. This grant was given to counties to be used specifically for evaluation and program development to identify and address community health needs. Through our recent CHA, it was determined that this is one way we can immediately begin addressing an area of concern for Cochise County residents. If this proposal is approved, $26,000 of this grant fund would remain for other projects/programs as we progress further with our Community Health and Improvement Plan. The CCSO has been essential in the development of this program from the beginning, and will continue to play the most important role of all as we move forward. The CCSO will handle all of the day-to-day functions of the program to include the proper storage, handling, transportation and disposal of medications. This will include regular pickups of medications from the MedReturn II Units, storage of medications, and final disposal using the portable incinerator at regular intervals. CHSS and CCSO will be able to provide reporting data on our collaborative program on a quarterly basis or more often if requested. Our estimates indicate a 1-3 month time frame will be needed for delivery/installation of the units and incinerator. Once the units are installed, the portable incinerator is set up and ready for use at the Bisbee CCSO facility, the program will be ready to begin, by May 1, 2014. Phase II: During this phase, CHSS and CCSO, will work together to find a well equipped 400+ pound capacity incinerator unit that can be installed as a fixed permanent incinerator for the CCSO to use. Once a suitable unit has been identified, CHSS and CCSO will then look for community partners, grant funding and internal grant funding sources that may be used to assist with the purchase, installation, use and upkeep costs. Additionally, the CCSO and CHSS will consider offering subcontracting options to other local law enforcement agencies for regular use of the fixed unit, to allow for more a efficient local resource for destruction of medications and other materials gathered by law enforcement and to recoup expenses to some degree.

Work with Procurement to order disposal units, sign agreements with community partners where disposal units will be located, begin installation of units and draft public awareness materials to educate residents about this new program.

Improperly stored prescription medications in the home will continue to be a hazard for the general public, especially our children. Residents who do dispose of unwanted prescriptions will continue to do so in unsafe and environmentally harmful ways.

BOS signature is not required. There are no documents for forward to the Clerk of the Board for signature or filing.