Residents of Newton returned medication and drugs to the Newton Police Department (NPD) for the twice-yearly “Medication Take-Back Day” on Oct. 29.
The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) partners with NPD to host drug take-back days twice each year. Newton residents can drop off expired or unused prescription medication at the NPD headquarters. Medications are then sent to the DEA for incineration.
Keeping unused and expired prescription medication risks people accidentally or intentionally taking it, especially in the case of medication they receive after surgery, according to Newton Police Captain William Spalding.
“Sometimes people get prescribed medications that they may not need after surgery because their pain is less than expected,” Spalding said. “So a lot of times it just sits there. And so what we were finding is a lot of people that were addicted to painkillers … would help themselves to it.”
Whether it’s through break-ins or theft by family members, 90 people have reported stolen medication to NPD over the past 20 years, although Spalding said there are likely more unreported cases.
“[People] may not report it because they put the medication in their cabinets and it’s been sitting there for a year or two and they don’t even know what’s in there,” Spalding said.
In addition to take-back days, Newton has three permanent medication drop-off sites across the city: one in front of City Hall, one inside NPD headquarters, and one at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. The Newton Police then send the collected medications to the DEA.
As a safety precaution, NPD cannot reveal the exact information of what the DEA does after Newton Police send in the medication in case people attempt to intercept the transfer, according to Spalding.
