Brookline Police Urge Residents to Clean Out Medicine Cabinets

Brookline police are asking residents to scour their medicine cabinets for unwanted or expired pharmaceuticals for a one-day drug take-back initiative in late September.

Working with officials from the Drug Enforcement Agency, Brookline police are organizing a temporary collection site at the Public Safety Building on Sept. 25 for any controlled substances, prescription or over-the-counter drugs. Participants will not be asked to show identification or answer any questions.

The program is part of a national initiative aimed at limiting pill abuse and theft by getting unwanted drugs out of the home. According to experts, the majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, often from the home medicine cabinet.

"In addition, many do not know how to properly dispose their unused medicines, often discarding them in the trash or flushing them down the toilet—both potential safety and health hazards," Brookline police said in a press release. "This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue."

Event organizers will take any medicines or pharmaceutical substance, including liquids, as long as they are in their original container or package. Intra-venous solutions, injectibles, and syringes will not be accepted because of the rise of spreading blood-borne pathogens.

For more information about this initiative, call the Brookline Police Department at 617-730- 2254 or visit http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/takeback.