Durham and Middlefield Resident Troopers Collect 180 Pounds of Unwanted Prescription Drugs on April 30th

On April 30th Connecticut State Police, Troop F collected 180 pounds of unwanted or expired prescription drugs in Durham and Middlefield, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). It was the HIGHEST total ever collected in Durham and Middlefield, setting the life-time collection total at about 400 pounds. The Drug Take Back Day gave the public an opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.

Drug Take-Back events are a significant piece of the Durham Middlefield Local Wellness Coalitions prescription drug prevention efforts and is a community policing initiative from the Connecticut State Police. Results from the 2015 Search Institute Survey showed that 5.4% of 7th-12th graders reported using prescription drugs that were not prescribed to them, a 2 percentage point increase from 2013. “The illegal use of prescription drugs by our youth is lower than the state average” said Stephanie Moran, Prevention Coordinator with DMLWC, “however, our numbers are rising and as a community we need to work together to prevent that number from increasing again.”

Last September, Americans turned in 309 tons (over 617,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at nearly 5,500 sites operated by the DEA and more than 4,000 of its state and local law enforcement partners. When those results are combined with what was collected in previous take back events, DEA and its partners have taken on over 4.8 million pounds-more than 2,400 tons – of pills.

Middlefield and Durham Resident Troopers will continue to conduct these events to decrease the supply of unused prescription drugs in homes, reducing access and misuse, especially among youth.

The Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is planned, staffed, and provided as a continuing proactive effort by The Connecticut State Police, Troop F to prevent drug abuse before it happens in our community. This event is supported by The Durham Middlefield Local Wellness Coalition.