A police station is typically the last place citizens would visit with drugs, but on April 30, the Boothbay Harbor Police Department took all comers as part of National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Held twice a year, the program has collected over six million pounds of drugs nationwide since its inception in 2010. Locally, the state of Maine has taken in 100 tons of drugs since the program started and officials expected to collect 19,000 pounds at this year’s take-back. 

“There's a variety of reasons it's done. It prevents theft and also keeps chemicals out of the water supply,” said Boothbay Harbor Police Chief Robert Hasch.

The importance of these programs is underscored by Maine's growing opiate epidemic, said Hasch. According to the Centers for Disease Control, Maine has the nation’s highest rate of prescriptions for long-term, opiate medications. With Boothbay Harbor’s older than average population, the amount pf prescription medications in homes is considerable, making the elderly vulnerable for theft through relatives or even home invasion.

“The numbers are shocking — approximately 46,000 Americans die each year from drug-related deaths. More than half of those are from heroin and prescription opioids,” wrote Drug Enforcement Agency Administrator Chuck Rosenberg in a press release ahead of the event. “With four out of five new heroin users starting with prescription medications, I know our take-back program makes a real difference.” 

According to the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 6.5 million Americans abused controlled prescription drugs.  That same study showed that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.  In addition, the DEA’s National Take Back Initiatives are a significant piece of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy’s prescription drug abuse prevention strategy. 

The impact on the environment can be just as costly. According to the UK-based environmental group greenfacts.org, almost 90 percent of the orally administered dose of a drug is excreted as an active substance in the urine of humans. The majority of these medicines are disposed of through the sink or toilet where they enter the ecosystem as active chemicals. Highly lipid-soluble medicinal products also have the ability to accumulate in the fat tissue of animals, thus fully capable of entering the food chain. The impacts on humans are considered low; long-term low-level exposure is possible, but the science has been inconclusive. Perhaps the best known example of pharmaceutical drug pollution has occurred in South Asia by the ongoing mass poisoning of vultures through anti-arthritis medication.

While the National Drug Take Back initiatives are highly publicized events, Chief Hasch said the police station will accept medications any day of the week. He believes the initiatives have made people aware and accustomed to the proper disposal of medications, a win-win scenario for everyone.

“These programs have definitely been successful,” said Hasch. “People keep it in their minds and have a better understanding of the problems these prescriptions can have if left unattended.”