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04/29/2016 08:44 AMNews of Connecticut's opioid abuse crisis is bringing legislative changes and community forums which endorse programs such as Branford Police Dept.'s periodic, no-questions-asked drug take-back days. The goal is to clear medicine chests of dangerous drugs which could be easily accessed if not removed. On Sat. April 30, National Drug Take-Back Day, police will be taking in unused and expired medications at Branford Police headquarters, 33 Laurel St. from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Branford Police Dept. is conducting the effort together with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Residents can bring any unused or expired medications to the collection site for safe disposal with no questions asked. Officers and department staff will be on site to assist with the collection.
As stated on the Branford Police Dept. Facebook page, "The National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications."
During a March 29 Branford community forum on the state's opioid and heroin abuse crisis, hosted by State Rep. Sean Scanlon (D, D-98), Scanlon noted 85 percent of the state's opioid and heroin abusers start out using pills. In many cases the number of pills prescribed for routine pain-relief are many more than needed; leaving left-over pills which can be easily accessed and abused. In 2015, over 500 heroin/opioid overdose deaths took place in Connecticut, a 27% increase from 2014. Branford Police reported one heroin-related overdose death in 2014, two in 2015 and one to date in this year, a 19 year-old resident. Read more about what was discussed at the forum here
On April 26, a bill co-authored by Scanlon to reduce and regulate opiate prescription practices, as well as to increase access to life-saving overdose reversal drugs, passed the House. Scanlon noted that four in five new heroin users begin with prescription drugs, 50 percent of which they get from family and friends vs. 22 percent from legitimate doctor's prescription. The bill is now headed to the Senate for a final vote. If passed, it would make Connecticut the second state in the country to cap all adult first-time prescriptions for minor pain (with exemption for chronic pain/terminally ill). See more news of the House passage of the bill here