Dover Police to hold 'Drug Take-Back Day' April 27

posted on: 4/22/2019

On Saturday, April 27, 2019, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Dover Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public another opportunity to prevent prescription drug and opioid abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. Medications can be brought to the Dover Police Department at 46 Chestnut St. for disposal. The service is free, anonymous, and no questions will be asked.

Dover, like communities across the state, continues to see the impacts of the opioid epidemic. Just last year, Dover experienced 11 fatal opioid overdoses in the city in addition to dozens of non-fatal overdoses.

“We know there is a strong connection between prescription drug misuse and heroin use," said Police Chief William Breault. "If we can prevent prescription drug misuse we are in turn taking steps toward preventing overdoses. We urge all members of the public to safely dispose of the medications in their homes at the Drug Take Back."

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse 80 percent of people who use heroin misused painkillers first. This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Surveys show that one in five New Hampshire high school students have used a prescription drug that was not prescribed to them.

“Over half of teens report that prescription drugs are easy or very easy to get,” said Dover Coalition for Youth coordinator, Vicki Hebert. “Seventy percent of teens who abuse prescription drugs obtained the medications from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. We are holding this event to allow community members to dispose of their medications and remove the source of temptation from their home.”

Dover has participated in the take back initiative since the fall of 2010, hosting at least one event a year. During the last eight years Dover has collected over 2,800 pounds prescription drugs.

Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—pose potential safety and health hazards. The DEA states that unused prescription drugs thrown in the trash can be retrieved and abused or illegally sold. Unused drugs that are flushed contaminate the water supply.

If unable to attend a collection event during the national take back day, people can visit a permanent takeback box Wentworth-Douglass Hospital. This summer the hospital installed a disposal box in the main lobby of the hospital providing community members with an additional disposal option. The box is available for the disposal of prescription medications seven days a week.

For more information about the take back event visit the DEA website at www.DEA.gov.

For more infromation about being involved, contact the Dover Coalition for Youth at 603.516.3279 or online at www.DoverCoalition.org.