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The department received nine large bags/boxes of unused drugs, weighing in at 215 pounds on Saturday during the national Drug Take-Back Day sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Agency, said Stamford Police Capt. Richard Conklin.
"We really deemed the effort a success to help with overdoses and illegal sales," Conklin said. "Even with the weather, people turned out."
The twice-yearly event, held each April and October, continues to remove ever-higher amounts of opioids and other medicines from the nation’s homes, where they could be stolen and abused by family members and visitors, including children and teens, the DEA said.
The was started to address a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse, the DEA said.
Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet, the DEA said.
DEA launched its prescription drug take-back program when both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration advised the public that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash-posed potential safety and health hazards.
Once the drugs are turned over to the DEA they are put in a large incinerator where they are burned, Conklin said.
In April, the DEA held it's 15th event in nine years and collected a record-breaking number of nearly 475 tons of drugs collected nationwide at 6,000 sites.
Conklin says the department will aim higher during the department's next event in April 2019.
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