In 2014, more Americans were killed by drug overdoes (49,714) than motor vehicle accidents (35,398), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Due to the growing epidemic, Dartmouth officials and businesses are growing their prevention efforts.

This includes Walgreens, located at 495 State Road. The company started rolling out a Safe Medication Disposal Kiosk in 500 stores nationwide in February, said Walgreens spokesman Phil Caruso. The kiosks can be found in more than 30 states and in Washington, DC.

Walgreens collects unwanted, unused, and expired medications, said Caruso. Since the program's beginning, the company has collected 10 tons of medication nationwide, he said.

Not only is this an effort to combat the drug abuse problem, but it equally prevents water pollution by keeping prescriptions out of landfills, said Caruso.

Dartmouth residents can also dispose of controlled substances at the Dartmouth Police headquarters, located at 249 Russells Mills Road, and at the Campus Police headquarters, located at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, 285 Old Westport Road.

"We are a very large community. If you live north of Route 6, you might not go by [Dartmouth Police disposal kiosk]," said Board of Health Director Chris Michaud. "[Walgreens] is a very strategic location. It serves the region," he added, explaining that it also helps Westport residents who may not travel regularly by the Westport Police Department's kiosk at 818 Main Street.

Michaud said Walgreens is the first private provider in the community to take on a disposal initiative. He said he hopes it will start a trend among doctors' offices and pharmacies to make safe drug disposal a more common practice.

The Walgreens disposal kiosk is free to use. The company collects controlled substances, including both prescriptions like amoxicillin, opioids and painkillers, over-the-counter medications, and even expired vitamins.

Caruso said as the program gains momentum, Walgreens will look toward expansion. The only other Walgreens drug disposal kiosk in the South Coast is located in Fall River, at 369 Plymouth Avenue.

The Dartmouth Police Department has collected 200 pounds of disposed medications since unrolling its kiosk in January, said Detective Kyle Costa.

Michaud said these programs are safe and confidential. Medications are incinerated via a Drug Enforcement Administration-approved method, he explained. He added that residents are free to black out sensitive information, but suggested doing so at the kiosk to avoid transporting unlabeled drugs.

These locations do not collect sharps or lancets, but Michaud is currently unrolling a free sharps container program for residents, in which residents are provided a sharps disposal container that they can return to the Board of Health for free.

Since starting the sharps collection program in October, Michaud has provided about 60 containers to residents. He hopes to have the program completely rolled out for January.