Annual Shed the Meds Event in Putnam County Deemed a Success
By Rick Pezzullo
More than 250 pounds of unwanted and expired medications were collected during State Assemblyman Kevin Byrne’s annual Shed the Meds event at the Mahopac Volunteer Fire Department last week.
Byrne (R,C,Ref/Mahopac) was joined September 14 by local partners including Drug Crisis in Our Backyard, The Prevention Council of Putnam, Putnam Communities That Care (CTC) Coalition, NIH HEAL Initiative, and the Carmel Police Department.
“The participation we can continue to receive from our community in our Shed the Meds program is absolutely remarkable. Since we started this program with former state Senator Terrence Murphy, we have helped safely dispose of over 3,000 pounds of unwanted medications,” Byrne said.
“Drug take-back days help prevent the misuse of unwanted and expired medications while also protecting our water supply from contamination when medications are flushed down the toilet- which no one should do. I thank our amazing local community partners for their support in making this year’s event such a success and I remain grateful to them for their continued commitment in the fight against addiction across the Hudson Valley,” he added.
“Many people start to misuse these medications that were initially prescribed for pain. We know now how dangerous these pharmaceuticals can be when they are in the hands of someone who may misuse them,” said Susan Salomone, Executive Director and Founder of Drug Crisis in our Backyard.
Marie O’Connor, coalition coordinator for the Putnam CTC Coalition & The Prevention Council of Putnam, said 111 people have died to opioid overdose in Putnam County since 2014.
“Through the HEALing Communities Study, the overall goal is to reduce opioid overdose deaths by 40% in a three-year period,” O’Connor said. “By engaging our community in free\ overdose prevention trainings, distribution of Naloxone kits, and Deterra safe medication disposal bags, we can arm our community with tools to prevent opioid overdose, and to safely and effectively dispose of unwanted medications. Putnam County is a small but mighty county, and through awareness and action, we can reduce overdose deaths by protecting ourselves, each other, and the environment.”
Byrne has advocated for stronger state policies like eliminating required pre-authorization for Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT), the passage of the “Drug Take Back Act” (Chap. 120 of 2018), and the creation of a new special opioid settlement fund to ensure settlement money is properly appropriated for treatment (A.6395-B, Chap.190, 2021).
He also continues to push for support of drug treatment courts, increasing the number of days covered for in-patient and out-patient substance use disorder treatment (A.902) and increasing penalties on profit-making drug traffickers whose sales lead to the death of people suffering from addiction (A.6314).
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
