Franklincountynow.com Staff Report

(GREENFIELD) — The Northwestern District Attorney’s Office says the 19th Annual National Prescription Drug Take Back Day was a huge success in Franklin and Hampshire Counties, with a total of 3,533 pounds of unused, unwanted and expired drugs were collected. That is a 50 percent increase over the typical amount collected. Some 2,639 pounds were collected in Hampshire County and 894 in Franklin County and Athol.

“What an amazing turn out today for the Drug Take Back!” said organizer Maria Sotolongo, director of the Drug Diversion & Treatment Program for the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office.

“We’re so grateful to all the police departments and community members for participating in such an important event.”

Amherst police officers collected unwanted drugs in front of Wildwood Elementary School.

More than 60,000 pounds have been collected locally, since Drug Take Back Day was established by the Drug Enforcement Administration in 2010 to raise awareness of the importance of removing drugs from medicine cabinets to prevent their misuse,

The last time Drug Take Back was held on Oct. 26, 2019, some 2,108 pounds were collected locally.

“We know that among teens who have used prescription drugs to get high, most obtain them not from drug dealers or the internet, but from the family medicine cabinet,” Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan said.

“As the pandemic has persisted, the national crisis of addiction and drug overdoses has not abated. Data from our office show that opioid-related overdoses in Hampshire and Franklin counties have increased 15 percent during the first four months of 2020, compared to 2019,” Sullivan said.

“Getting unwanted and expired drugs out of circulation is something we all can do to help combat this crisis.”

The drugs are boxed, sealed, and brought by police or sheriff ’s officers to Community Eco Power in Agawam for incineration.

Participating communities this year included Amherst, Belchertown, Easthampton, Goshen, Hadley, Northampton, Pelham, Southampton, Williamsburg and Worthington in Hampshire County; Deerfield, Greenfield, Leverett, Montague and Sunderland in Franklin County and Athol in Worcester County.