The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office is pleased to announce the installation of a new medication collection box.
The purpose of the collection box is to provide the residents of Lincoln County with a safe and convenient method of disposal for outdated or unwanted medications.
For security reasons the collection box is located at the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) in Wiscasset.
It is against the right-hand wall just inside the front door. To protect against theft, the box itself is firmly attached to the wall. The collection box will be open for use throughout the year, with the exception of holidays.
It is self-service – simply drop medications into the box. It is not necessary to call beforehand. Hours of operation are Mon.-Fri., 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Please remove all personal indentifying information from labels before discarding medications. Prescription and non-prescription medications, over the counter substances, and medications for pets will be accepted.
The following will not be accepted: liquid pharmaceutical products such as cough syrup, as well as intravenous solutions, needles, and syringes. For more information, contact the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office at 882 -7332.
It was the National Drug Enforcement Agency’s National Drug Take Back Day (NDTBD) program that revealed a need for a receptacle of this sort.
The NDTBD has been extremely successful throughout the nation, especially in Maine – the State of Maine has consistently out-performed the nation in collection of medication per capita, but the program occurs on only two Saturdays of the year, in October and April.
That leaves residents, until now, with no place to discard their out-dated medications the rest of the year. The new collection box will change that by providing a year ’round means of disposal.
It is hoped the residents of Lincoln County will build on the momentum of the DTBD success and continue to demonstrate their determination to fight prescription drug abuse by making absolutely certain that any unwanted medications end up in the medication collection box and not in the environment or in the hands of children or drug addicts.
Lincoln County law enforcement officials are joined by Lincoln County TRIAD in urging residents to remove unwanted medications from their homes as soon as possible to avoid drug-related burglaries – burglaries that often target seniors.
Crimes related to the theft of prescription drugs are increasingly violent. Addicts steal medications not only to satisfy their own drug habit, but also to obtain drugs for illicit sale to others.
Unfortunately, the distance between someone surreptitiously taking pills from a medicine cabinet, and an addict driven to crime, is a remarkably short one.
It is important to realize that almost any medication if taken incorrectly or to excess can lead to addiction, and that addiction can occur with alarming rapidity.
By the time a teenager has finished experimenting with a forgotten half-filled bottle of pills from an unattended medicine cabinet, it is likely that he or she will have become a drug addict.
However, by taking measures to limit the accessibility of medications around the home, the public can do much to avert such disastrous outcomes.
Limiting easy accessibility to medications is key to the prevention of prescription drug abuse.
Promptly discard medications that are no longer needed, and carefully control those that are and sort through medicines frequently. Dispose of medications carefully.
Neither flushing nor throwing medications out in the trash is safe. The former harms the environment; as regards the latter, drug addicts are not above going through the trash in their desperate search for drugs.
Never leave bottles of pills lying around the house. Keep medications locked away in designated drawers or cabinets, out of sight of anyone visiting or entering the house.
Discussion about medications should be restricted only to those who need to know, such as medical personnel and trusted friends or family members.
If someone is picking up one’s medications at the pharmacy for one, count the pills when one receives the new bottle. If any are missing, contact the pharmacy immediately.
Someone may be stealing a few pills at a time from one, in the hope that one will not notice.
Finally, if one needs assistance in getting one’s medications to the collection box, call the LCSO at the above number.
Please help keep Lincoln County safe from prescription drug abuse.
