A drug collection unit now sits in the Public Safety Complex lobby on High Street. The Hartford Police Department says that this gives the public a “safe and environmentally responsible way to dispose of unwanted, unused or expired medication, including controlled substances.”
This box is one of 1,000 units sponsored by CVS/pharmacy and The Medicine Abuse Project as part of a five-year initiative of The Partnership for Drug-Free Kids.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 54.2% of prescription drugs were obtained free from a friend or relative, and another 16.6% were bought or taken from a friend or relative. By far, the top reason teens have said that they use prescription drugs is because of access: more than 70 percent of teenagers, according to a 2014 study by the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, said that it is easy to get prescription drugs from their parents’ medicine cabinets.
Meds can be dropped into this unit 24/7, no questions asked, police say.