By Barbara Scott
Staff Writer
On Saturday, April 30, residents were able to safely rid their households of unwanted prescription drugs by dropping them off at the Caribou Recreation and Wellness Center, where members of the Caribou Police Department were on hand to collect the items.
Aroostook Republican photo/Barb Scott
Caribou Police Chief Michael Gahagan was at the Caribou Recreation and Wellness Center on Saturday, April 30, where local residents could drop off unwanted prescription drugs, as part of a statewide effort to allow for proper and safe disposal of such items.
Last fall there was nearly four tons of prescriptions drugs collected statewide and in last weekend’s effort with 150 collections points available, nearly every law enforcement agency throughout the state was involved.
“So far this morning we’ve had about a dozen people come in to dispose of their prescriptions,” said Caribou Police Chief Michael Gahagan. “This may be down a little bit from last year, but I still believe law enforcement is the best avenue to handle this issue.”
Gahagan stated that one of the biggest reasons behind fewer people bringing unwanted prescription drugs on that particular day was due to the fact that since last year, individuals have been encouraged to drop off these items at the police station whenever necessary.
“It is unusual to have a single day go by without having someone come into the PD to dispose of prescription drugs,” said Chief Gahagan. “Through this drug Take Back program we have seen area residents become more comfortable coming into the police department — and that’s a good thing — people should be comfortable coming there.”
Gahagan also commented that he strongly felt that the comfort level had been raised once people realized that when they returned their unwanted prescription drugs, they were not subjected to any questioning regarding the scripts. “It is becoming more of a second nature to residents now that they understand all they have to do is just bring the items in to us — that they are comfortable coming into the station is one of our biggest concerns,” he added. Regarding the possible uncertainty some might have felt when this program first started Chief Gahagan said, “I believe if you give people direction — they will do it.”
All of the returned drugs, once collected in Caribou (including those from other communities and facilitiles) were taken to Presque Isle, combined from those collection venues, then transported to a site in Massachusetts for incineration.
According to Michael Wardrop, resident agent in charge of the Maine DEA in Portland, and coordinator of the event for the state, the final weight for the statewide collection was 11,920 pounds or just over 5 tons —“simple amazing.”
“Maine had the second largest collection in New England next to Massachusetts with 12,354 pounds,” stated Wardrop. “When you consider Massachusetts has five times the population, Maine excelled over all the states and I’m confident our total collection will again be number one in the U.S. per capita,” Wardrop added.
The initial collection statewide goal for the April 30 effort was 10,000 pounds.
Chief Gahagan will receive local statistics regarding the collection weight from this area at a later date.
