Seacoast to Participate in National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day

The State of New Hampshire is partnering with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), substance abuse industry and poison prevention organizations to promote proper storage and disposal of medicine in the home.  

The health of many New Hampshire’s citizens benefit from the appropriate use of over-the-counter and prescription drugs.  However, when drugs are not stored safely, diverted to unauthorized users or disposed of in an improper manner, serious problems such as drug abuse, accidental drug poisoning and/or contamination of the State’s water resources can occur.  

The number of deaths caused by drug use has quadrupled over the last fifteen years in New Hampshire. Ongoing research has identified the occurrence of pharmaceuticals in water resources in some areas of the nation and are suspected to have caused adverse impacts to aquatic life in certain water bodies.

4,527.9 pounds (2.3 tons) of unwanted or expired medication was turned in New Hampshire during the September 29, 2012 collection.  The DEA, and its state and local law-enforcement and community partners have removed 18,047 pounds (9 tons) of unwanted or expired medication in New Hampshire through five previous take back initiatives over the last three years.

On April 27th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. many of New Hampshire’s law enforcement agencies and the DEA will give the public another opportunity to prevent pollution or pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.  The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Collection sites will be posted on www.justice.gov/dea/ as they are established between now and April 27, 2013.  Check their website frequently for updates on the location of collection sites.  Already, over seventy collection sites have been established in New Hampshire.

For more information of how to properly dispose of your unwanted medicine, please visit www.nh.gov/medsafety.

Information submitted by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services