If you missed the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Drug Takeback Day on October 23, Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey reminds residents that they can go to any one of 26 area police stations to safely dispose of prescription drugs every day of the year.

“Through a partnership with Bay State Community Services and local chiefs, we were able to expand the number of drug collection containers from five towns to 26 over the past several years,” District Attorney Morrissey said. “Now every station except Wrentham and Plainville house a container that is available at any hour of the day, any day of the year.”

Morrissey worked with Bay State Community Services and the Department of Public Health to offer matching grants to area departments to acquire and house safe collection kiosks. He then coordinated with COVANTA Energy to safely dispose of the drugs in a way that does not pollute local landfills or groundwater.

“There are no questions asked at the station,” DA Morrissey said. “The kiosks look very much like mailboxes. Just open the front, put the unneeded drugs in – in the original bottles or any other container -- and the police will make certain they are held safe until they can be destroyed.”

Morrissey began the effort to collect unneeded drugs almost a decade ago, when addiction specialists found that the majority of those seeking treatment for opioid misuse had acquired their first dose from the medicine cabinet of a friend or family member.