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10/18/2016 12:00 AMWith National Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, Oct. 22 coming up, State Representative Sean Scanlon (D-98) and 2015 American Idol winner Nick Fradiani joined forces with Guilford DAY to raise awareness about excess prescription drugs in a short video. The video can be seen on youtube.com (search “Scanlon and Fradiani”).
In the video, Scanlon, Fradiani, and student members of Guilford DAY, a drug prevention group, encourage residents to come down to the Guilford Police Headquarters and turn in unused prescription drugs. The event will run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., but the drop-off box is located in the station and prescriptions can be dropped off 24/7—no questions asked.
Scanlon has dedicated part of his first term to fighting the growing opioid epidemic across the state (he is running unopposed for re-election). He said something as small as removing unused prescription drugs from the house can have a big impact.
“Data shows that four in five new heroin users begin their addiction by abusing prescription drugs, and 50 percent of [users] get them initially from a family member or friend given the millions of leftover and expired pills we tend to keep in our medicine cabinets after surgeries and injuries,” he said. “This simple step, believe it or not, can actually save lives.”
By making a video, Scanlon said he hopes this message reaches more young people. He reached out to Fradiani, with whom he graduated Guilford High School (GHS) in 2004, to help spread the word.
“I reached out to Nick and just asked him as a fellow Guilford High School grad to do this and he was more than happy to do it,” he said. “This is something I have worked a lot on in my two years in office and something that is impacting a lot of young people here in Guilford. So as two young Guilford guys who have done other stuff in our life besides this, we wanted to get together with some kids and put this together.”
Fradiani said he was glad to help out on this issue.
“Guilford is my hometown and I have seen [drug use] affect a lot of people that I know, a lot of people my sister knows, in town and outside of Guilford,” he said. “It is an important issue and I think it is something people don’t always want to talk about in a town like Guilford, where you don’t think there are a lot of problems, but it is everywhere now. It was a good thing to be a part of and it is such an easy thing for me to do.”
At last year’s drug take back day, Scanlon said more than 60 pounds of excess medication was collected in two hours. While Scanlon said he hopes to double that amount this year, he said he also hopes the bill he helped pass in 2015, which limits first-time opioid prescriptions to a seven-day supply, will start cutting down the amount of excess prescription drugs overall.
“The goal of doing that cap was to slowly reduce the amount [of excess prescription drugs] that is in our society, but there is a tremendous amount that is already there,” he said. “What my bill tried to do was stop it from growing, but doing things like this tries to get what is already out there. When you combine those two things, I think we can really make a difference.”
Guilford DAY student Danielle Ott said she was pleased to be a part of the video.
“I think it shows the community that GHS really cares about preventing substance abuse and we are not afraid to say that we are clean,” she said.
Drug Take Back Day will be held Saturday, Oct. 22 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Guilford Police Headquarters located at 400 Church Street.