Scarborough Police Officer Joe Giacomantonio is expecting another big turnout when his department again participates in National Prescription Drug Take Back Day next week.

Giacomantonio, a community resource officer, was surprised to see how many people took advantage of the opportunity in September. Some came in with a single bottle of unused medication and others brought filled bags, sometimes containing prescriptions for a deceased family member.

The items ranged from over-the-counter medicines to powerful painkillers.

“It was amazing,” he said. “We had a lot of medications come in. It was amazing some of the stuff that came through.”

The federal Drug Enforcement Agency is organizing the April 30 effort with state and local law enforcement agencies. They’re aiming to rid homes of unneeded drugs that could be prone to abuse. Collection sites cannot accept hypodermic needles.

People don’t always realize that the items in their medicine cabinets could be stolen or misused by friends, family and others in their homes, said Tony Pettigrew, spokesman for the DEA in New England,

“But people who are addicted to drugs will do anything,” he said.

The collection effort also has an environmental benefit. The medications will be incinerated, so the drugs won’t enter the environment by being flushed down the toilet or tossed in the trash.

Last year, law enforcement agencies collected 7,820 pounds of medications in Maine, 25,810 pounds in New England and 242,000 pounds nationwide, said Pettigrew.

Maine State Police Lt. Walter Grzyb hadn’t expected so much demand for such a service, which Troop B will offer again at its barracks in Gray.

“We had a steady flow of people all day long,” he said.

In Sanford, Assistant Police Chief Craig Sanford described a hassle-free process.

“They can drive right up, no questions asked. We box it up and turn it over to the DEA,” he said.

The DEA will collect the medications from the participating agencies with the goal of destroying all the drugs that same day, Pettigrew said. The drugs from Maine will be incinerated outside the state at facilities run by Covanta Energy or Wheelabrator Technologies, he said.

Incineration at very high temperatures destroys the pharmaceutical compounds, leaving behind primarily carbon dioxide and water, said Jim Crowley, state pretreatment coordinator for industrial wastewater at the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Those compounds are not destroyed when medications go through wastewater treatment plants or septic systems or when they lie in landfills, he said.

A DEP study last year found measurable levels of antibiotics, steroids, pain medications and other drugs in water draining from landfills in Augusta, Brunswick and Bath.

 

Staff Writer Ann S. Kim can be contacted at 791-6383 or at: akim@pressherald.com

 

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