EASTHAMPTON – A prescription drug take-back event will take place at the Public Safety Complex fire bays, located at 32 Payson Ave., on Oct. 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The event is organized by the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, Hampshire Hope, and the Opioid Task Force in conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Administration.

It is a drive-through, drop-off event. No personal information is required, motorists can drive up through the fire bay and drop their prescriptions into a collection box that will be monitored by attending officers.

Police Lt. Dennis R. Scribner said the program aids in getting unwanted or unused drugs out of people’s homes where they can be accessed by children and others who should not have access to them. This event is an important part of the nationwide effort to battle the opioid crisis.

“Another important goal of this program is protecting our elder population, helping elders clean out their medicine cabinets can prevent accidental overdoses as well as misappropriation of prescription drugs by home health attendants or family members,” said Scribner.

Liquids, syringes, IV equipment or chemotherapy drugs are not accepted.

If there is a label on the bottle, people can remove them but it will not be done by event coordinators. Scribner said once the box of prescription medications is full, it is sealed and prepared for collection at the end of the event. He said medications are not handled by event coordinators.

The Hampshire County Sheriff’s Department collects all of the medications at the end of the event. The boxes are weighed and recorded, and the sherriff’s departments coordinates the destruction of all drugs collected from the event.

Aside from Easthampton, this event also happening in nine other Hampshire County towns and five Franklin County towns:
• Amherst: Wildwood School, 71 Strong St.;
• Belchertown: Park Street on the common;
• Goshen: Police Department, 40 Main St.;
• Hadley: Police Department, 15 East St.;
• Northampton: Smith Vocational Technical High School, 80 Locust St.;
• Pelham: Police Department, 2 S Valley Rd.
• Southampton: Police Department, 8 East St.;
• Williamsburg: Williamsburg Pharmacy & Hardware Store, 49 Main St.;
• Worthington: Transfer Station, Huntington Road;
• Deerfield: Police Department, 8 Conway St.;
• Greenfield: Police Department, 321 High St.;
• Leverett: Police Department, 90 Montague Rd.;
• Montague: Police Department, 180 Turnpike Rd.; and
• Sunderland: Police Department, 105 River Rd.

Coronavirus precautions will be taking place. Personal protective equipment (PPE) will be worn, social distancing will be in place, and community members are asked to wear a mask and follow the social distancing requirements.