Damariscotta Chief of Police Jason Warlick and Healthy Lincoln County Project Coordinator Jess Breithaupt put out signs for the semiannual Drug Take Back Day.
On Saturday, Oct. 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, along with the police departments of Boothbay Harbor, Damariscotta, Waldoboro, and Wiscasset, will host the semiannual Drug Take Back Day.
This medication disposal event has been offered every spring and fall for the last eight years, with a goal to prevent prescription drug misuse and theft. Everyone is invited to bring in expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs for safe disposal, no questions asked. This national event is sponsored by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, local law enforcement, and community health partners. The service is free and anonymous.
There will be five drop-off locations in Lincoln County:
• Boothbay Harbor town office
• LincolnHealth — Miles Campus in Damariscotta
• Sheepscot Valley Health Center in Coopers Mills, Whitefield
• Waldoboro town office
• Wiscasset Police Department
The DEA can accept all unused, unwanted, or expired prescription or over-the-counter medications. This includes pills, liquids, ointments, and patches. The DEA cannot accept needles, other sharps, syringes, electronic devices, or devices with mercury.
Last April, 426 pounds of prescription drugs were returned to Lincoln County disposal sites. Over the course of the last nine years, the state of Maine has collected over 380,000 pounds of medication at these events, the ninth highest in the country. These high numbers show that Maine is committed to disposing unused medications to reduce misuse, abuse, and accidental overdose.
“Flushing medications or disposing of them in the trash can be very damaging to our natural resources. It’s also not safe to hang on to old medications as they could get in the hands of our youths, and even our pets. On Drug Take Back Day, you can quickly and discreetly dispose of medications at one of the drop-off locations, no questions asked,” said Jess Breithaupt, the project coordinator at Healthy Lincoln County.
For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about the Take Back Day event, go to the DEA Diversion website, deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/index.html, or call the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office at 882-7332.
