Prescription Drug Disposal Event Scheduled for April 30

The North Haven Substance Abuse Action Council will be holding a prescription drug  collection event, the first since September 2010, at the town fire headquarters on April 30.

The Council, comprised of concerned parents, educators, and student volunteers, will be joined at the event by representatives from the Drug Enforcement Administration, who oversee the proper handling, categorization, and disposal of the substances.

Last year, the Council collected upwards of 2,500 unwanted pills from homes in North Haven, a measure Nancy Leddy, Youth Services Administrator for the town, believes curtails potential abuse, overdoses, and robberies committed in order to procure drugs.

The Council also warns that improperly disposed prescription medication can enter and contaminate municipal water supplies, an eventuality collection events aim to ward off.

"You never know who's life you're going to save," said Leddy at September's event. "It's a fight that's never over, but we have to try and remove some of these substances from homes where they can be easily obtained and abused."

Concern over illegal prescription drug sales and consumption has come to the fore in North Haven and its neighboring communities following last week's arrest of thirteen area individuals charged with operating an OxyCodone smuggling ring.

That investigation, carried out by the DEA, turned up $11,000 in cash and more than 2000 pills.