On Saturday, April 28th, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. local police departments around the county, Newport Hospital, and the Drug Enforcement Administration will give the public another opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. (The DEA cannot accept liquids or needles or sharps, only pills or patches.) The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
Bring your prescription drugs for disposal to
• Jamestown Police Department, 250 Conanicus Ave
• Little Compton Public Safety Building, 60 Simmons Road
• Middletown Police Department, 123 Valley Road
• Newport Police Department, 120 Broadway
• Newport Hospital, 11 Friendship Street
• Portsmouth Police Department, 2270 E. Main Road
• Tiverton Police Department, 20 Industrial Way
During the last event in October 2017, “Americans nationwide did their part to reduce the opioid crisis by bringing the DEA and its more than 4,200 local and tribal law enforcement partners a record-setting 912,305 pounds—456 tons—of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs for disposal at more than 5,300 collection sites. That is almost six tons more than was collected at last spring’s event. This brings the total amount of prescription drugs collected by DEA since the fall of 2010 to 9,015,668 pounds, or 4,508 tons.” (November 07, 2017, DEA Public Affairs)
“More people start down the path of addiction through the misuse of opioid prescription drugs than any other substance. The abuse of these prescription drugs has fueled the nation’s opioid epidemic, which has led to the highest rate of overdose deaths this country has ever seen,” said Acting Administrator Robert W. Patterson. “This is a crisis that must be addressed from multiple angles. Educating the public and removing these medications from households across the Unites States prevents misuse where it often starts.”
