New, convenient drop-off boxes for unused medications are available in Piscataquis County
The rate of drug overdose deaths in Piscataquis County far exceeds the state average. Limiting access to medications that could be misused is one way to address the issue close to home.
Northern Light CA Dean and Mayo Hospitals have announced a convenient medication take-back program for easy disposal of leftover, unused, and out-of-date prescription and over the counter medications. New secure, safe drop-off boxes are available in the CA Dean and Mayo Hospital main entrances.
All unused and unwanted medications are accepted except for inhalers and needles.
MAYO DROP-OFF BOX — Megan Douglass, PharmD, clinical pharmacist, CA Dean and Mayo Hospitals, with the new medication drop-off box in the main entrance at Northern Light Mayo Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft.
To dispose of medications, community members should enter the hospital main entrances and look for the big green receptacles. Drugs can be dropped off anonymously with no questions asked.
“In an effort to help reduce the risk of drugs in the home that can potentially harm children, teens, or adults, we’re providing the community with another safe, secure opportunity to clean out their medicine cabinets and make their homes and communities safer,” says Megan Douglass, PharmD, clinical pharmacist, CA Dean and Mayo Hospitals. “We want to remind people that they should not flush drugs down the toilet. Our drug disposal unit is a great answer to that problem and it’s simple to do.”
CA Dean and Mayo Hospitals are partnering with Inmar on the drug take-back program. Inmar manages drug take-back programs with hospitals and pharmacies across the country. The specially designed locked, secure boxes can only be accessed and emptied by pharmacy staff.
CA DEAN DROP-OFF BOX — Megan Jennison, PharmD with the new medication drop-off box in the main entrance of Northern Light CA Hospital in Greenville.
Unused medications in the home are a source of drug abuse in millions of homes, with the opioid crisis in the United States fueled in part by that availability: 47 percent of misused prescription pain relievers are given by, bought from, or taken from a friend or relative. On average, an American dies of a drug overdose every five minutes.
The new medication receptacles are one of several strategies that CA Dean and Mayo Hospital are working on to address the opioid epidemic. The hospitals offer safe and effective medication and counseling in Milo, Dover-Foxcroft, and Greenville. The hospitals’ Community Outreach Team leads several substance use prevention programs in schools, and the hospitals have distributed hundreds of doses of Naloxone, a medication used to rapidly reverse and opioid overdose, in the past two years.
Many local pharmacies and police departments also accept unwanted and unused medications. Please click here at https://medtakebackmaine.org/ for a list of local and statewide sites.