Drug Disposal Project Scheduled For April 30
Drug Disposal Project Scheduled For April 30
By Andrew Gorosko
Residents will have an opportunity to properly dispose of potentially dangerous, expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs on Saturday, April 30, when the town and the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) conduct a prescription drug disposal project.
The collection program is scheduled for 10 am to 2 pm at the police station at 3 Main Street. The service is free and anonymous, with no questions asked of people disposing of prescription drugs, police said.
Locally, the collection project is sponsored by the police department, the health department, and the Newtown Prevention Council.
On Wednesday, April 27, local officials displayed the sturdy steel collection box that will be used at the outdoor drug disposal event. The four-legged box, similar to a US mailbox, is positioned on a concrete pad next to the main entrance to the police station.
Police Chief Michael Kehoe said that after the town receives approvals from the DEA, the steel box would be permanently positioned outside the main entrance of the police station to receive residentsâ deposits of unwanted prescription drugs.
The DEA conducted a similar drug collection project last September at the annual town health fair held at Newtown Middle School.
The nationwide drug collection project last September resulted in the DEA and local law enforcement agencies collecting 242,000 pounds of drugs for safe disposal.
In the past, citizens had been advised to dispose of prescription drugs either by flushing them down toilets or by throwing them into the trash. Such disposal methods, however, have been shown to pose potential safety and health hazards, according to police.
Police said that proper drug disposal can help to prevent prescription drug abuse by people unauthorized to use the prescribed drugs.
Medicines that languish in home medicine chests are susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse, according to police.
Prescription drug abuse is the nationâs fastest growing drug problem, according to the town.