Residents in several Fairfield County towns who have unused, expired or unwanted prescription drugs may turn them in for safe disposal during the semi-annual “Take Back Day’’ on Sept. 26.
Prescription drugs will be collected between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on that day, in the program sponsored by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Syringes and needles will not be accepted for collection.
“The improper disposal of pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter drugs has also been reported to negatively impact the environment and public health, as some drugs cannot be safely flushed or poured down drains because wastewater facilities are not designed to remove them,’’said Rep. Pamela Staneski, R-Milford.
“In some cases drugs can find their way into lakes, rivers and streams and into drinking water,’’ she said.
Reports indicate that 20 percent of teens intentionally misuse others’ prescription drugs to get high, and many obtain the drugs from raiding the medicine cabinets of friends and relatives, according to the DEA web site.
In other cases children and pets have gotten into medications that have caused long-term health problems and death.
Drop-off sites will be at the police departments in Fairfield, Greenwich, Danbury, Newtown and Weston.
Bridgeport police will collect unwanted prescription drugs at its Community Services Division, 1395 Sylvan Ave.
Collection points will also be set up at Daniels Farm School, 710 Daniels Farm Road in Trumbull, and in New Canaan at the Walgreen’s Pharmacy, 36 Pine St.
There will also be a collection site in Milford, in the parking lot of the Milford Senior Center, 9 Jepson Drive, co-sponsored locally by the Milford Prevention Council and the Milford Police Department.
In the previous nine Take-Back events nationwide between 2010 and 2014, a total of 4,823,251 pounds — or 2,411 tons —of drugs were collected, according to the DEA.
For more information on the national drug take-back program, visit www.deadiversion.
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