Freeport, Cumberland and Yarmouth Police Departments, along with Casco Bay CAN, will address the growing problem of prescription drug misuse by installing secure permanent drug drop off boxes on Tuesday, August 19 at 10:30 am.
Freeport Police Chief Gerald Schofield will host the launch and will be joined by other law enforcement representatives from Cumberland and Yarmouth to announce their newly installed medication drop off boxes. Additionally, Landis Hudson, Executive Director of Maine Rivers and Delbert Arris, Chairman of the Freeport Shellfish Conservation Commission, will speak about the positive impact the drug boxes will have on the health of local waterways, fisheries and shellfish.
According to the Maine Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services the State Epidemiological Profile for 2014 reports that more than one in 10 high school students reported misusing a prescription drug in their lifetime in Maine. In 2012, there were 163 overdose deaths due to substance use in Maine. The vast majority of those deaths were related to pharmaceutical drugs.
“Properly disposing of unwanted, expired or outdated drugs is everyone’s responsibility and helps keep youth and adults safe and our waterways clean, said Casco Bay CAN Coordinator Beth Blakeman-Pohl. “Now, Casco Bay region residents will not have to wait for a semi-annual take-back day to clean out their medicine cabinets.”
Casco Bay CAN is a grant-funded project sponsored by Cumberland County Government, comprised of local individuals, schools, law enforcement agencies, organizations and businesses working together to prevent and reduce youth substance abuse in Cumberland, Falmouth, Freeport, North Yarmouth, Pownal and Yarmouth.
For more information, contact Beth Blakeman-Pohl at 207-865-3985, ext. 208 or Amy Fickett, Public Information Officer, at (207) 871-8380.