Prescription Drug Take Back

On April 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Ledge Light Health District, in partnership with TRIAD, Groton Senior Center, Groton Town Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will offer a prescription drug take-back event. The public will have an opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous, expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs. Bring your medications for disposal to the Groton Senior Center at 102 Newtown Road or the Groton Municipal Building at 295 Meridian Street. This service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Last October, Americans turned in more than 377,086 pounds—188.5 tons—of prescription drugs at 5,327 sites operated by the DEA and state and local law enforcement partners.

When the results of the last three Take-Back Days are combined, the DEA, and its state, local, and tribal law-enforcement and community partners have removed 995,185 pounds (498.5 tons) of medication from circulation in the past 13 months.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety and health hazards.

For more information on this event, contact Michelle Hamilton, Ledge Light Health District Program Coordinator, at (860) 448-4882 ext. 305 or mhamilton@ledgelighthd.org.

For more information about Ledge Light Health District, visit our website at www.ledgelighthd.org.