Maui residents can drop off unused medications at designated police stations

Maui residents can dispose of unused or expired prescription medications at Maui County police stations equipped with green take-back boxes ahead of National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, the Hawaiʻi Department of the Attorney General announced.

Residents of Maui, Lānaʻi, Molokaʻi and Hawaiʻi Island can use police-station boxes, which allow anonymous drop-offs. Information on disposal locations is available from the Department of Health Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division.

The Maui Police Department reported Friday that all of its stations have drop off boxes available to the public every day, around the clock, near each station’s receiving desk, public service or front desk areas, depending on location.

The 31st national event is set for Oct. 24, according to the Attorney General’s department. It is working with the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the Hawaiʻi Department of Law Enforcement, its Narcotics Enforcement Division and local law enforcement agencies.

Drive-through collection sites will operate on Oʻahu and Kauaʻi, the department said. A list of those locations is available at ag.hawaii.gov.

The national event is held twice a year and offers a free, anonymous service with no questions asked, the department said. For Take Back Day collections, tablets, capsules, liquids and other forms of medication are accepted, and they can stay in their original containers with labels attached. Vaping devices may also be accepted if the batteries are removed, while new or used syringes with needles will not be accepted, according to the department. The announcement did not say whether the same rules apply to the police-station boxes.

Kenyon Terrell, assistant special agent in charge of the DEA’s Los Angeles Field Division, Honolulu District Office, urged residents to take part.

“Clean out your medicine cabinet and safely dispose of unused medications to help prevent prescription drug misuse in your community,” Terrell said. He added that the event also protects water systems by providing a safe alternative for disposing of medications.

“We know street drugs are dangerous, illegal and sometimes deadly,” said Jared Redulla, director of the Department of Law Enforcement. “Unused or unwanted medications can also be extremely harmful if they end up in the wrong hands or are misused. The National Take Back Initiative’s success is due to the help we get from our local residents properly and legally disposing of unused and unwanted medications.”

“Prescription drug misuse can impact not just the individual, but the entire family,” said Valerie Mariano, chief of the Community and Crime Prevention Branch within the Department of the Attorney General. “Let’s work together to prevent misuse by participating in these semiannual take back days.”

The department gave these reasons for disposing of unneeded medications:

• Medications may lose their effectiveness after the expiration date.
• Misuse of prescription medications can pose serious health risks and can be as dangerous as illegal drug use.
• Keeping unused or expired medications at home increases the risk of accidental poisoning, particularly for children and older adults.
• People may mistake one type of medicine for another, and children may mistake medicine for candy.

Medications should not be thrown in the trash or flushed down the toilet, because proper disposal helps keep them out of the water supply and away from aquatic life, the department said.

Residents who know someone struggling with prescription drug misuse can find help through the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s resource listing, according to the department.