SWAMPSCOTT — On Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Swampscott Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will take back unwanted prescription drugs at the police headquarters on Humphrey Street.
The public will be given the opportunity to participate in the 15th National Take Back Initiative to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous, expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs, Swampscott police said.
Citizens can bring their pills for disposal to the Swampscott Police Station, located at 531 Humphrey St. The DEA cannot accept liquids, needles, or sharps, only pills or patches.
The service is free and anonymous, with no questions asked.
Police said the 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 country are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to those drugs.
Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet, police said.
Americans are 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, police said.