By Thomas Grillo and
Gayla Cawley
This weekend, the public can make a difference in the fight to end opioid addiction and protect their loved ones.
Saturday is National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, organized by the Drug Enforcement Administration with support from local police departments.
Unneeded or expired prescription drugs, can be dropped off at police stations in Lynn, Swampscott, Saugus, Peabody, Nahant and Lynnfield from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“The event is important for a number of reasons near and dear to our hearts,” said Lynn Police Chief Kevin Coppinger. “By disposing of these drugs, it eliminates the possibility of someone using outdated or unneeded prescriptions, especially when families have inquisitive teens in the home who search a medicine cabinet and may try something as serious as OxyContin, oxycodone or Percocet.”
Fatal opioid overdoses in the U.S. have tripled since 2000. In Lynn alone, 44 people OD’d last year, nearly double the number in 2012.
Most of the deaths involve prescription opioids or heroin and people who misuse prescription drugs report they got them from family or friends.
Items that can be collected include prescription and over the counter medication, medication samples, vitamins, veterinary medications, narcotics and liquid medicines.
Coppinger advises against tossing these drugs down the toilet or in the trash.
“These products are not environmentally friendly and should not be flushed down the toilet where they enter the water systems,” he said. “If they are thrown in the trash and wind up on the curb, then they become public and anyone can go in and take what they want. We offer a secure place to get rid of them.”
America is undergoing an epidemic of addiction, overdose and death due to abuse of prescription drugs, particularly opioid painkillers. More than 6 million Americans age 12 and over, 2.4 percent of the population, abuse prescription drugs, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health released last month, more than the abuse of cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, and methamphetamine combined.
Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of injury-related death in the U.S., eclipsing deaths from motor vehicle crashes or firearms. The majority of prescription drug abusers report that they obtain their drugs from friends and family, including from the home medicine cabinet.
Last April, during its 11th Take Back Day, Massachusetts safely disposed of more than 25,000 pounds of drugs over four hours.
Thomas Grillo can be reached at [email protected].