Drug drop-off coming to police station

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, prescription drug abuse is now officially an epidemic in this country. So after participating in a nationwide one-day drug drop-off program, the Georgetown Police Department has just been granted a waiver to run its own permanent prescription drug return program.

On Sept. 29 this year, the Georgetown Police Department joined a nationwide one-day collaborative effort coordinated by the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) with state and local law enforcement agencies for dropping off prescription drugs. This past weekend, the department received word that they can now open the drug drop-off program to the public and keep it as a permanent feature in their lobby.

Sgt. Scott Hatch monitors the Georgetown program with Reserve Officer Michael Broderick. The drop-off box, located in the lobby, just around the corner from the dispatchers office, is an official mailbox donated by the Georgetown Post Office.

The mailbox needed some work, which was done by Officer Broderick, including the painting, said Hatch.

Now that we have received a DEP extension of the waiver, the drop-off box [mailbox] has become a permanent fixture in our lobby and we are accepting returns of prescription medications 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Hatch continued.

Medications are considered to be in the category of household hazardous waste and require a special permit to be collected, he explained. The DEP waiver requires that collection agencies follow certain guidelines for containment and disposal.

Georgetowns program is now accepting prescription medications, pills, ointments, patches, over-the-counter drugs, vitamins, samples and pet medications.

It will not be accepting syringes, lancets, liquid medicines, thermometers, aerosol cans, inhalers, medications from business/clinics, or illegal drugs or substances.

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Drug drop-off coming to police station