City of Everett Taking Back Unwanted Prescription Drugs

On April 26 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. the Everett Police and Fire Departments in partnership with The Everett Health Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public its eighth opportunity in three years to prevent prescription pain medication abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.  Bring your pills for disposal to one of 3 different locations. The Walgreens Pharmacy Parking Lot, 317 Ferry Street;  The Rite Aid Parking Lot,  405 Broadway and the Everett Police Department,  45 Elm Street. The Everett Police Department has a medication drop box located in the front lobby that is available to accept medications 24 hours a day 7 days a week. The Everett Health Department also has a medication drop box that is available during City Hall hours. Please remove any identifying information from medication bottles.  Liquid medications and needles are not accepted.  The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Last October, Americans turned in 324 tons (over 647,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at over 4,114 sites operated by the DEA and its thousands of state and local law enforcement partners.  When those results are combined with what was collected in its seven previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in over 3.4 million pounds—more than 1,700 tons—of pills.

On Thursday, March 27, 2014 Governor Deval Patrick declared a public health emergency in Massachusetts in response to the growing opioid addiction epidemic. The use of prescription pain medications like Hydrocodone or Oxycontin, can lead to addiction and is often seen as a route to heroin addiction which has been on the rise in Massachusetts. From 2000 to 2012, the number of unintentional opiate overdoses increased by 90 percent, with at least 140 people dying in MA from suspected heroin overdoses within the past few months.

1 in 6 children have abused a prescription medication. Two thirds of teens who report abuse of a prescription medication report getting them from friends, family, and acquaintances, usually without their knowledge. There are important steps people can take to keep their medications safe. Monitor all medications. Keep track of the number of pills in your prescriptions and all refills. Approach securing your prescriptions in the same way you would other valuables in your home like jewelry or cash. Safely dispose of all expired and unused medications at your local medication drop box. Please do not dispose of unwanted medication in the trash. This could put pets in danger of accidently poisoning or give someone an opportunity to find the medication and take it without your knowledge.

For more information please contact the Everett Health Department 617-394-2255 or the Everett Police Department 617-389-2120

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