North Reading Police Collect Unused Medications

The North Reading Police and North Reading Community Impact Team’s Youth Substance Use Prevention Coalition partnered with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to host its tenth Rx Take Back Day to encourage residents to safely dispose of unused and outdated prescription medication. The event was held outside the O’Leary Senior Center on Saturday, April 26th in conjunction with events hosted nation-wide.

This year, the team collected 201.2 pounds of unused medications and pet medications, bringing the total collected to 3,709.6 pounds since 2017.

According to the DEA, unused or expired medications are a public safety issue, leading to accidental poisoning, overdose and abuse. The non-medical use of prescription drugs ranks second only to marijuana as the most common form of drug abuse in the nation.

Drug-Free Communities Grant Director Amy Luckiewicz noted, “We’re happy that these special Take Back Days do so well, but residents don’t need to wait for these days,” she continued, “The North Reading Police Drug Drop-Off kiosk is open all day, every day, and residents don’t need an appointment to drop off their unused drugs into the kiosk.”

Additionally, the Community Impact Team (CIT) offers free medication lock boxes to North Reading residents. The lock boxes are one tool to help keep medications and adult-use marijuana out of reach and safely stored.

Lastly, the CIT provides free drug deactivation bags for safe disposal. These bags contain chemicals to render drugs inactive and are suitable for pills, patches, and liquid medications. The sealable bags can then be disposed of safely in the trash.

All of these options aim at keeping medications safe, but also raising awareness. This year, the CIT also partnered with the North Reading Sustainability Committee to raise awareness about keeping drugs out of waterways. Luckiewicz explained, “This year we were happy to provide information at the Sustainability Committee’s Earth Day Celebration at the Flint Memorial Library earlier in April.” She added, “Flushing medications can create a negative environmental impact, and we’re reading more and more about pharmaceutical pollution.”

Deactivation bags are also able to be delivered to all Meals on Wheels clients in partnership with the O’Leary Senior Center, are available at the Food Pantry, and can be delivered to home mailboxes. To receive a free drug deactivation bag or free lock box, contact Amy Luckiewicz at coalition@northreadingma.gov or call (978)357-5054.