Calise Tamara Vehige, Martin Sarah Levin, Wingerter Chloe
JSI Research and Training Institute, Inc., 44 Farnsworth Street, Boston, MA, 02210, USA.
University of Maine at Farmington, Farmington, ME, USA.
J Pharm Policy Pract. 2022 Mar 1;15(1):12. doi: 10.1186/s40545-022-00407-1.
The improper disposal of unused drugs can harm the environment and living beings. Programs such as drug take-back bins encourage people to dispose of unused medication at designated locations have increased. Unfortunately, awareness and participation is low, especially in ethnically and culturally diverse communities. The purpose of this paper is to describe the implementation of the Knock Talk and Toss (KTT), a drug take-back program aimed at taking unused drugs out of circulation and building police-resident connections in the housing authority of Framingham, MA.
Multi-lingual brochures on the dangers of unused drugs and safe disposal were distributed on residents' doors via the police department and/or listservs to residents living in the housing authority. Awareness efforts were then followed-up by teams of individuals, including the police, going door-to-door to collect any unused drugs, no questions asked. During the visits, one team member observed resident characteristics, whether drugs were disposed, including the estimated quantity and type, and police/resident interactions. Interviews were conducted with key staff and Chi-square analyses were used to assess socio-demographic differences in proportions of individuals willing to toss drug(s).
A total of 27 h were spent going door-to-door and 33 pounds of drugs were disposed. Households with observed adults aged 65 years or older and children/teenagers were twice as likely to dispose drugs compared to households, where these populations were not present.
Initiatives, such as KTT, where police go door-to-door in areas with a higher concentration of families and elderly may help take unused drugs out of circulation while also enabling the police to have a positive presence in the community.
未使用药物的不当处置会对环境和生物造成危害。诸如药品回收箱之类的项目鼓励人们在指定地点处置未使用的药物，此类项目有所增加。不幸的是，人们的认知度和参与度较低，尤其是在种族和文化多元化的社区。本文的目的是描述“敲门交谈并投放”（KTT）项目的实施情况，该项目是一项药品回收计划，旨在使未使用的药物不再流通，并在马萨诸塞州弗雷明汉的住房管理局建立警方与居民的联系。
通过警察局和/或邮件列表向居住在住房管理局的居民门上分发关于未使用药物的危害和安全处置的多语言宣传册。随后，包括警察在内的工作人员团队挨家挨户进行跟进，收集任何未使用的药物，不问任何问题。在走访过程中，一名团队成员观察居民特征、是否处置了药物（包括估计数量和类型）以及警方与居民的互动情况。对关键工作人员进行了访谈，并使用卡方分析来评估愿意投放药物的个体比例在社会人口统计学上的差异。
总共花费27小时挨家挨户走访，处置了33磅药物。与没有65岁及以上成年人和儿童/青少年的家庭相比，有这些人群的家庭处置药物的可能性高出一倍。
像KTT这样的举措，即警察在家庭和老年人集中的地区挨家挨户走访，可能有助于使未使用的药物不再流通，同时也能让警方在社区中树立正面形象。
