Pill collection sites set up

They might seem innocuous, but those colorful tablets are fueling the growing abuse of prescription drugs nationally and in Boston.

Today, at five sites, the office of Mayor Thomas M. Menino, along with the police department and city public health commission, is collecting unused prescription drugs and needles for injecting medication. . Their goal is to keep hazardous drugs away from teenagers.

Michael Botticelli, director of the state’s Bureau of Substance Abuse Services, said the state has been tackling the prescription drug abuse problem by funding local education efforts and increasing treatment capacity to reduce the number of deaths from drug overdoses. Today’s event takes a different tack, in response to an increasing awareness that this form of abuse is, as Botticelli puts it, “an epidemic of the medicine cabinet.’’

Elaine Driscoll, a spokeswoman for the Boston Police Department, said the program will benefit the community by providing a way to dispose of harmful drugs that also protects the environment. Some research has suggested that prescription drugs flushed down sinks and toilets can accumulate in streams and possibly harm wildlife. But the program mainly targets teenagers who have easy access to pills in their parents’ bathrooms.

“There’s always a concern where you have youth that are looking to experiment with prescription drugs,’’ she said.

A 2008 report of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health said misuse of prescription drugs is one of the most widespread forms of drug abuse in the country, second to marijuana. The Massachusetts Youth Health Survey found that, in 2007, 18 percent of high school students and 6 percent of middle school students reported having misused a prescription drug at least once.

The rates of misuse among young adults are alarming. Prescription drugs are a natural gateway to heroin abuse, authorities said.

Paul Williams, coordinator of the South Boston Hope and Recovery Coalition, started to organize today’s kickoff about two months ago. He has worked on other prevention efforts to reduce overdoses from narcotic painkillers, such as OxyContin and Vicodin, but he said today’s effort is important because most people don’t think leftover pills pose such a large public health threat.

Based on how well today’s collection efforts go, the city might institute an annual or regular collection day, Williams said.

Two years ago, local community surveys found that Charlestown, South Boston, and Jamaica Plain had some of the highest levels of prescription drug abuse, Botticelli said. Today’s collection sites are based in those neighborhoods, as well as in Dorchester and Brighton. Unused prescription drugs and needles may be turned in at:

■ Fourth Annual Charlestown Open Market, Bunker Hill Mall, Austin and Main streets, Charlestown, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

■ Proctor and Gamble, One Gillette Park, South Boston, 9 a.m.-noon.

■ Carney Hospital, 2100 Dorchester Ave., Dorchester, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

■ St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, 11 Nevins Way, Brighton, 9 a.m.-noon.

■ Martha Eliot Health Center, Bromley Heath Side, 75 Bickford St., Jamaica Plain, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Patrick G. Lee can be reached at patrick.lee@globe.com.