Drug Take Back event to collect unwanted prescription drugs

On Sept. 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each of the local community police departments and the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Office and the Maine Sheriff’s Association will give the public its 10th opportunity in five years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. Bring your pills for disposal to your local police department (the departments cannot accept liquids or needles or sharps, only pills or patches.)  The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Last September, Americans turned in 309 tons (over 617,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at nearly 5,500 sites operated by the DEA and more than 4,000 of its state and local law enforcement partners. When those results are combined with what was collected in its eight previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in over 4.8 million pounds — more than 2,400 tons — of pills.  

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines — flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash — both pose potential safety and health hazards.

For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about the Sept. 26 Take Back Day event, contact Greenville PD at 695-3835, Milo PD at 943-2522, Brownville PD at 965-2561, Dover-Foxcroft PD at 564-8021, Dexter PD at 924-7622 or Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Office at 564-3304.

If you have any questions related to the Drug Take Back Event or safe disposal and storage of your medications, please contact Lisa Kingsbury at the Piscataquis Public Health Coalition at 564-4184. The Piscataquis Public Health Coalition is a local Healthy Maine Partnership, a collaborative effort among 28 local Healthy Maine Partnerships, the Maine Center for Disease Control, Fund for a Healthy Maine, Maine Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services.