Police/DEA Sponsor Drug Collection Project

The Newtown Police Department and the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will sponsor a collection project for residents’ unwanted prescription drugs at the police station at 3 Main Street from 10 am to 2 pm on Saturday, October 29.

The event will provide the public with an opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.

The service is free and anonymous. No questions will be asked, police said.

Nationwide last April, US residents turned in 188 tons of unwanted prescription drugs at 5,400 collection sites jointly supervised by the DEA and 3,000 law enforcement agencies.

Town police note that besides the regularly scheduled drug collection projects that they jointly conduct with the DEA, the police department has a permanent drug collection receptacle positioned at the police station for residents to properly dispose of their unwanted drugs at any time.

That large gray steel box, which is the size and shape of  US Mail collection box, is located outdoors at the police station’s main entrance.

In the past, authorities had advised prescription drug users to dispose of unwanted drugs by flushing them down the toilet or by throwing them in the trash. However, it is has been determined that such disposal methods pose potential safety and health hazards.