Town taking part in Prescription Drug Take Back Program

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Daniel O. Parrillo, Johnston’s deputy police chief, will head the local department’s participation in an important national initiative this weekend.

“This is an annual event that police departments all over the country host,” Parrillo, who also serves as the town’s emergency management director, said of the national Prescription Drug Take Back Program. “This is a responsible way of disposing of any and all drugs, as well a way to educate the public about the potential for abuse.”

Locally, the program will be held Saturday, April 30, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Johnston Senior Center, located at 1291 Hartford Ave. (Route 6).

“We are encouraging Johnston residents who may have prescription drugs and other medications that have expired for the proper disposal,” Parrillo said. “Please remember, tough, that liquids, needles and syringes cannot and will not be accepted.”

The deputy chief, who has coordinator other successful drug take back efforts in years past, added: “If people are not able to bring those items to the Senior Center Saturday, we have a [year-round] prescription mediation drop-off container inside the police headquarters at 1651 Atwood Ave.”

The annual program – which is free, with no questions asked – is sponsored by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency. In October 2015, the Johnston program collected 273 pounds of expired, unwanted, or unused over-the-counter and prescription drugs.

Nationally, last year’s initiative collected roughly 350 tons of prescription drugs across nearly 9,000 sites.

“Rhode Island continues to lead the nation in illicit drug use, and we have been in the eye of the storm of heroin, fentanyl, and prescription opiate overdoses. While state leaders recognize that we need a comprehensive approach to addressing the problem, which includes access to naloxone, increasing support for recovery programs, and prosecuting drug traffickers, much of this crisis has been borne out of the diversion of prescription drugs for illicit purposes,” Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin said through a statement. “Ridding our homes of expired and unused prescription medications is both easy and effective manner to ensure they don’t end up in the hands of someone with an addiction.”

“For too many years, Americans have received far too many prescription pills, including opioids such as OxyContin, Vicodin and Percocet. We now know that the results have been disastrous,” U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha said through the same statement. “The overprescribing of opioids has led to addiction and death from both these prescription pills and from heroin, to which those who abuse prescription opioids often turn. Far too often, prescription opioids, no longer needed, remain in our medicine cabinets at home, all too available to those who might abuse them. These overfilled medicine cabinets are literally killing our friends, relatives, and in some instances our children. It is beyond time to empty them, and take-back day is a great opportunity to do so.”

The deputy chief said once the drugs are collected, they are taken to secure location and properly disposed of by DEA officials.

“This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs,” reads the statement from state and federal officials. “Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines – flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash – both pose potential safety and health hazards.”

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