PLYMOUTH — Plymouth County Outreach is pleased to report that a successful drug take-back event was held this past weekend.
On Saturday, Oct. 23, PCO hosted the event in collaboration with the Plymouth Police Department, Plymouth Fire Department, Plymouth Youth Development Collaborative (PYDC) and Plymouth Area Prevention Collaborative.
The drug take-back event was held at the Plymouth Police Department as part of National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.
The Plymouth Fire Department collected sharps at the event, and PYDC had a resource table with prevention resources.
In total, 41 pounds of prescription medications, 41 vapes and one large barrel of sharps were collected, and nine Naloxone (Narcan) kits, 36 resource bags, 53 Deterra kits, two Harm Reduction Kits and 15 Fentanyl test strips were handed out.
“We want to express gratitude to participants of the event as well as community members who took the time to clean out their medicine cabinets and get rid of medications they no longer wanted or needed,” Plymouth County Outreach Program Director Vicky Butler said. “It was great to not only collect these medications, but also give out important resources and kits to members of the community.”
Plymouth Area Prevention Collaborative also set up a “hidden in plain sight” display at the event, which is a mock adolescent teenage bedroom demonstration that helps parents/caregivers to identify signs of risky behavior. The exhibit opens the door for conversations around substance use and other important issues that may arise among youth.
In addition, “hidden in plain sight” is meant not to scare parents/caregivers but to provide them with information and education around how to have meaningful conversations with young people.
“It’s great to be able to partner with so many different agencies for these events,” PYDC Program Coordinator Kelly Macomber said. “While people often believe that adolescents experiment with prescription medications through an access point of a dealer on the street, often youth report their access point as being a friend of family’s medicine cabinet, which makes events like this one so critical.”
About Drug Take Back Day
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day addresses a crucial public safety and public health issue. According to the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 9.7 million people misused prescription pain relievers, 4.9 million people misused prescription stimulants, and 5.9 million people misused prescription tranquilizers or sedatives in 2019. The survey also showed that a majority of misused prescription drugs were obtained from family and friends, often from the home medicine cabinet.
For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs, about Take Back Day or for complete results from past Take Back Day events, visit www.DEATakeBack.com.
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