Medicine Disposal Event to Help Keep Ground Water Clean, Curb Drug Abuse

DEA Heads First-Ever Nationwide Prescription Drug Take-Back Day

Even before the Board of Health heard about a national take back prescription medicine event this Saturday, it planned to hold a similar event in Dedham to help residents clean out their cabinets from unused medication.

"It's pretty involved. There are so many things that come into play," said Board of Health chair Leanne Jasset.

Several areas become affected when medical waste is not disposed of properly, she said.

"People throw it down the drain, in the sink, in the trash and eventually it gets into the water, into the ground," Jasset said.

In addition, often times the elderly will leave pain medications sitting in the open in bathrooms where their teenage grandkids could take advantage of the access, she said at a recent selectmen's meeting.

"They take it because it's not being used, so who would notice it," said Jasset, who is also a pharmacist at Wardle Pharmacy.

Because medical disposal is a multi-faceted issue, the event garnered the support from not just Dedham's Health Department, but also Dedham Department of Public Works and the Dedham Police Department.

Residents can drop off medication to the Department of Public Works between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday.

The national Drug Enforcement Agency is sponsoring the first nationwide take-back day this Saturday – the same day Dedham planned to hold their event.

According to the DEA, rates of prescription drug abuse continue to increase, as well as poisonings and overdoses.

"We are aggressively reaching out to individuals to encourage them to rid their households of unused prescription drugs that pose a safety hazard and can contribute to prescription drug abuse," said acting deputy attorney general Gary G. Grindler. "The Department of Justice is committed to doing everything we can to make our communities safer, and this initiative represents a new front in our efforts."

 Rates of prescription drug abuse in the United States are increasing at alarming rates, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs.

This allowed the Board of Health to jump on board and take advantage of some of the benefits the DEA's event will bring.

"They took a lot of red tape off the board, instead of the mounds and mounds of paperwork," Jasset said. "It also won't have to pay the disposal fee."

Once the medication gets collected, the police department will take control of it until the DEA comes to pick it up.

"This is something that's been catching on," Jasset said. "For the DEA to sponsor this nationwide, you know it's got to be a problem nationwide."