Crime & Safety

Reading Police Reach Prescription Drug Take Back Milestone

In December, police took back their 10,000th bottle since 2009.

In recent years, the Reading Police Department has increased its efforts to take back unwanted prescription drugs in order to keep them out of the wrong hands.

Last month, the town hit a major milestone.

According to a press release issued last week, in December the Reading Police Department and Reading Coalition Against Substance Abuse logged their 10,000th bottle collected since November 2009.

The collection came as a part of the Reading Rx Round Up program. According to a chart in the press release, collection has steadily increased since 2009.

In that year, just 29 bottles were collected. In 2010 police took back 1,778, in 2011 they collected 1,997, in 2012 police took back 2,681 bottles and in 2013 an impressive 3,742 bottles were taken back.

Residents can drop their unwanted prescriptions off in the designated box in the Reading Police Department lobby. The box was donated by the Middlesex District Attorney's office in 2012.


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