Safely disposing drugs: Town holds take-back day

by Mark Jahne

Editor

Many people have prescriptions medications that they no longer use filling up their medicine cabinets.

Throwing them in the trash or flushing them down the toilet can have a negative environmental impact. There is a safer way to dispose of these medicines.

Twice a year, the town of Rocky Hill participates in a National Take Back

Day sponsored by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. It provides safe disposal of unwanted medication.

Police Off. Brian Carroll and Youth Services Specialist Kelli Ayala staffed the tent where people came to safely dispose of unwanted medications. (Jahne)

The Police Hill Police Department and town Human, Youth and Senior Services Department team up to collect these drugs and ship them to the DEA for incineration. Officer Brian Carroll and Youth Services Specialist Kelli Ayala staffed a tent alongside police headquarters on Old Main Street and a steady stream of cars pulled up to take advantage of the opportunity.

One of them was Maura Healey. She called this is a beneficial program.

The Police Hill Police Department and town Human, Youth and Senior Services Department hold drug take-back days twice a year. (Jahne)

“I think it’s great. They tend to give you a lot of mediation when you go to the doctor,” she said.

Tossing it in the garbage strikes her as a bad idea.

“We’ve done this year after year to support the community,” Carroll said. “This allows DEA to safely destroy them.”

He added that it resolves the problem for people who don’t have any other avenue for safe disposal. Everything is documented before being delivered to the federal agency.

“We set it up as a drive-through so people don’t have to get out of their cars,” Carroll added.

“We team up with the police because its’s prevention oriented,” Ayala said. “This is the safest way” to dispose of drugs.

Rocky Hill conducts drug take-back days every April and October. RHL