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Board approves $299 disposal agreement as town prepares for DEA licensing and new EMS rules
Summary
The board approved a $299 disposal agreement with AR Redistributors after staff said MaineHealth will stop dispensing EMS narcotics and the town must meet DEA security and disposal requirements; staff estimated initial compliance costs at $20,000–$30,000.
Town staff told the board that MaineHealth plans to end its practice of supplying narcotics to local EMS units effective in July, requiring municipalities to hold their own controlled-drug inventories and comply with DEA security requirements. "Maine Health is no longer going to be distributing, the narcotics from their pharmacy to EMS," the town administrator said, laying out the chain-of-custody and licensing implications and an estimated compliance cost in the tens of thousands.
As a first step, the board voted to accept a disposal agreement with AR Redistributors for a $299 kit to handle expired medication; the town will pay disposal fees only when material is actually shipped. Board members discussed alternatives — residents may use sheriff-run take-back programs for personal prescriptions, but the AR agreement is intended to satisfy the requirement for a DEA-compliant disposal chain for municipal EMS inventories. Staff said the town must also procure secure storage (a locked, temperature-controlled unit), add camera monitoring and establish inventory controls before obtaining the DEA license. The board approved the disposal contract 2–0 and asked staff to develop a budget and timeline for full compliance.
