WINDHAM COUNTY, Vt. – Saturday, April 27, is the Drug Enforcement Agency’s (DEA) National Drug Take Back Day, and the Windham County Prevention Partnership would like to take this opportunity to raise awareness about proper storage and disposal of prescription medications.
This initiative gives communities the opportunity to prevent prescription drug abuse and theft by ridding their homes of expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. Please keep in mind the DEA cannot accept liquids, needles, or sharps, only pills or patches.
This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that are left in home cabinets are highly susceptible to misuse and abuse. Rates of prescription drug misuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Additionally, simply throwing unused medicines in the trash or flushing them down the toilet risks environmental harm, theft, and poses a public health hazard.
“It is so important to come together as a community and do our part to help raise awareness and take this issue head on. We are so grateful for the support we’ve seen for this event,” says Elisha Underwood, the executive director of West River Valley Thrives in Townshend.
Collect your expired or unused prescription pills or patches in their original bottle, or place them in a disposable bag. Be sure to remove or cover your personal information. Anonymously drop your pills and patches in a prescription drug drop box near you.
Bring your medications for disposal to any of the following locations: Messenger Valley Pharmacy, 170 Grafton Road, Townshend; Brattleboro Police Department, 62 Black Mountain Road #101; Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, 17 Belmont Avenue; Bellows Falls Police Department, 170 Rockingham Street; Wilmington Police Department, 2 East Main Street; Dover Police Department, 245 Vermont Route 100.
All locations listed have permanent drop boxes located in the agency’s lobby, and boxes are available for pill disposal during open lobby hours, no questions asked. Please note, these locations may have fluctuating hours. Please call ahead to confirm hours.
If you are unable to make it to a physical drop box and would like a postage-paid bag to dispose of your unwanted prescription via mail in a medication-safe envelope, you can request an envelope from the Vermont Department of Health at www.healthvermont.gov/alcohol-drugs/services/prescription-drug-disposal.