At-Home Drug Disposal Kits Vital Part Of Vernon Anti-Addiction Program

VERNON, CT — Vernon's "Connection Beats Addiction" anti-opioid campaign includes a simple, at-home method of turning medication into harmless household trash.

It's just one segment of the initiative, which focuses on treatment, intervention, helping families affected by opioids, drug take-back events, harm reduction, developing positive connections and programs in the public school system and through social service agencies.

"Connection Beats Addition" is supported by funds distributed to municipalities from opioid litigation.

Unveiled at Tuesday's National Out event was a product called the Deterra drug deactivation and disposal system. The town was granted 1,500 of the packets through the Governor's Prevention Partnership and the federal Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. They are designed to give residents who can't get to a drug take-back event or the depositories at police stations an easy way out.

Deterra is a pouch that contains of substance that breaks down narcotics. Disposal is a three-step process:

1. Place medication in a pouch
2. Fill the pouch halfway with water and shake well
3. Dispose of the pouch in the trash

"It renders the drugs totally inert," Vernon Town Administrator Michael Purcaro said.

The packets are available free of charge via Vernon's social services and youth services departments. See more on Vernon's "Connection Beats Addiction" initiative here.

According to the Governor's Prevention Partnership, Connecticut residents are more likely to die from unintentional drug overdoses that car crashes. More than 40 percent of teens who have "misused" prescription drug obtained them from a household medicine cabinet, according to the partnership.