BRUNSWICK
Police departments in the Midcoast area collected 1,711 pounds of medication recently — a large portion of which was dropped off during Saturday’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.
According to Director of Community Health Promotion at Mid Coast Hospital Melissa Fochesato, Drug Take Back Day is an important step in keeping medication and drugs out of the water supply.
Fochesato said the program was started after “national environmentalists were starting to find traces of medications in the water supply.”
“This is why we encourage people to take them to the green boxes or to a take back day,” Fochesato said, “because they then go to a facility that has special incineration technology that keeps it out of the environment — so out of our drinking water, out of our soil.”
Most of the drugs were collected over the last six months in green boxes present at police departments that are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is a collaboration between the Drug Enforcement Agency, local police departments and, in the Midcoast area, Mid Coast Hospital. People can drop off expired medication or unused prescriptions any time of the year in the green boxes, but every six months the Sagadahoc County Sheriff ’s Department collects the deposited drugs. Those drugs are then transported to the Cumberland County Sheriff ’s Department, which oversees their incineration at ecomaine. Officials say 438 pounds of the total 1,711 haul was dropped off on Saturday.
“We’re collecting more in the boxes now than we are the day of, but it is a good reminder day for people to clean out their medicine cabinets to bring it in,” said Fochesato.
Statewide, authorities collected more than 27,000 pounds.
“If you have any opioids in the house, that’s our number one reminder,” said Fochesato. “That’s why we don’t want you to wait six months — we want you to get rid of those as soon as you can.
“When they’re in your house, with any medication, keep it secure and then as soon as you’re done with the prescription bring it to your big green box which is in all our local police departments,” she added.
nstrout@timesrecord.com
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