423 Pounds of Drugs Collected in Medication Take Back Events in Flanders, Riverhead

It was a major victory in the fight against prescription drug abuse on the East End recently as three take-back events in Flanders and Riverhead yielded a whopping 423 pounds of medication collected.

According to Felicia Scocozza, Riverhead's Community Awareness Program executive director, the events took place on October 15 and 22.

And, she said, such efforts to collect prescription drugs helps prevent abuse and heroin use.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse, she said, found that nearly half of young people who inject heroin reported abusing prescription painkillers before starting to use heroin.

On Saturday, in conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Agency's National Take-Back Initiative, 307 pounds of medication were collected at Peconic Bay Medical Center in partnership with PBMC Northwell Health, Riverhead Police Department, the NY National Guard Counterdrug Task Force and the Riverhead Youth Coalition.

An additional 25 pounds were collected the same day at the Flanders take-back event in partnership with Southampton Police Department, Southampton Town Councilwoman Julie Lofstad, and the Southampton Youth Bureau, a release said.

On Saturday, October 15, in conjunction with the Riverhead Town’s S.T.O.P. Day, or Stop Throwing Out Pollutants, 91 pounds were collected at the highway department. Many of the medications collected were controlled substances, Scocozza said.

“The safe disposal of unwanted and expired medication is one of the coalition’s critical focal points in its multi-faceted approach to preventing prescription drug addiction and overdose, in addition to heroin abuse,” CAP Community Prevention Specialist Kelly Miloski, MPH said. “We will continue to work with our local police departments and our other partners to raise awareness about our community’s medication drop box and the importance of safely disposing of your medication.”

To date, over 2,400 pounds of medication have been collected through the combination of the take-back events and the permanent drop box.

In 2014, a permanent medication drop box was installed in the lobby of the Riverhead Police Department at 210 Howell Avenue so residents can safely and conveniently dispose of unused, unwanted, and expired medication at their convenience, 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, prescription drug abuse is the fastest growing drug problem in the United States, especially among teens, a release stated.

The CDC reports that one in five teens say they have taken prescription drugs without a doctor’s prescription and every day, more than 2,000 teens use prescription drugs to get high for the first time.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, nearly half of young people who inject heroin reported abusing prescription painkillers before starting to use heroin, CAP officials said.

Some report using heroin because it's cheaper and easier to obtain than prescription drugs, the release stated.

In addition, more people die from prescription drug overdoses than from all illegal drugs combined; drug overdoses are now the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S., outnumbering highway traffic fatalities, CAP representatives said.

The mission of the Riverhead Community Coalition for Safe and Drug-Free Youth is to engage collaborative partners in the planning, implementation and evaluation of strategies that prevent youth substance use, the release said.