Staff Writer

 Local police departments will join the statewide effort Saturday to collect more than 10,000 pounds of expired and unused prescription medication throughout the state.

The April 30 event follows in the footsteps of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s national Drug Take Back Day last September, the first take-back day in the nationwide initiative to combat drug abuse and create environmentally friendly disposal of medication.

“Last year was a true success story,” said Michael Wardrop of the U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration at The Northern York County Drug Take Back Collaborative press conference last week.

Drugs will be collected 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Public Works Recycling Center, 271 Hill St., Biddeford;  Saco Community Center on Franklin Street,  and the new police station, 16 E. Emerson Cummings Blvd., Old Orchard Beach.

Don Lauzier, co-founder of the collaborative, said the first event collected more than 121 tons of pills throughout the country. More than 7,820 pounds of medication, or slightly less than 4 tons, came from Maine, he said.

Lauzier said Maine ranked number one in collection efforts based on population size.

Lauzier, vice president of community relations at Saco and Biddeford Savings Institution, founded the collaborative a year and a half ago with Bill Patterson of Coastal Healthy Community Coalition, Betsy Johnson of Southern Maine Medical Center, Helene Whittaker of Old Orchard Beach Community Watch Council and Old Orchard Beach Police Lt. Tim DeLuca.

“We were looking for a community project that would be beneficial for the community and we came up with the idea for a drug take-back program,” Lauzier said.

Lauzier said shortly after forming, the collaborative joined forces with police departments and began planning a drug take-back day for October when it learned the DEA would hold a nationwide event in September.

“So we switched gears and started working with them, which simplified everything,” Lauzier said.

Saturday’s event will be broader than the first event, Lauzier said.

“The first event excluded nursing homes, senior living facilities, long-term care and assisted living facilities. This year it’s being made available to everyone,” he said.

Wardrop said it’s important to reach out to older generations in the statewide effort to combat drug abuse.

More than 70 percent of people who abuse prescription medication get them from friends or relatives, he said. 

Saco Police Chief Brad Paul said the figure “underscores the magnitude of the problem.”

Paul said accidental overdoses, pharmacy robberies and drug deaths have steadily increased in the state and it’s not unusual to find school-aged children in possession of drugs.

“Drugs are the second leading cause of death behind motor vehicle accidents … and most of those are from drugs prescribed to someone else and diverted inappropriately,” Paul said.

Paul said these “diverted drugs” are stolen, shared, received from the passing of a loved one or accidentally ingested.

“We just want to get the information out to the people that there’s something they can do to get rid of their old prescriptions,” Breault said.

Paul said a recent study shows 38.4 prescriptions are issued annually to Americans aged 65 and older, a figure that speaks to the importance of safe medication disposals.

“And that’s just an average,” he said. “Many people have more.”

Paul said one of the dangers in having prescription drugs in a household is that children, grandchildren or friends of relatives can easily get their hands on the medication.

“Pretty soon these (drugs) find their way back to the street,” he said.

People just don’t know what to do with them,” Lauzier said. “For environmental reasons they’re told not flush them down toilets and they’re told not to throw them into trash cans. So what are the alternatives? There are no alternatives. But if we’re able to continue doing these (events) every six months then people won’t have excess drugs just sitting around.”

Following the event, local police departments will turn the prescription drugs over the to the DEA, which will transport the drugs out of state for incineration, said Wardrop, who is overseeing the final step in the disposal.

Wardrop said the DEA asked directors of senior residences and facilities to contact local law enforcement agencies to set up their own pickup days in an effort to help seniors join the statewide effort. Many law enforcement agencies have contacted senior citizen facilities to set up individual pickup times, he said.

Saturday’s event piggybacks on the launch of national efforts to combat prescription drug abuse throughout the country.

On April 19 the White House released a plan to tackle the growing problem titled “Epidemic: Responding to America’s Prescription Drug Abuse Crisis.” 

Wardrop said White House efforts “show how important this initiative is.”

“Prescription drug abuse is the fastest growing drug problem nationally,” he said. “Prescription drugs are the second most abused category of drugs after marijuana and there are more (prescription drug) overdose deaths than with cocaine, heroin and amphetamines combined.”

“The scope of the problem is tremendous,” Paul said. “Middle school-aged children are found with prescription medication not issued to them in their pockets, in their backpacks and in their lockers.”

“If you think your community is immune, you’re simply not looking hard enough,” he said.

“This is an opportunity for us to educate York County,” said Patterson, project director of the Coastal Healthy Community Coalition at the University of New England.

“We’ve come a long way in bringing the problem of drug abuse to the forefront and we’re so pleased the (DEA) has offered us this opportunity.”

Lauzier said the DEA has scheduled two future Drug Take Back events, one in six months and one in a year.

Staff Writer Rachel H. Goldman can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 233.