30th birthday gift: 2 ½ tonsof drugs collected
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — Stunning number. Two and one-half tons.
This year marks the 30th year of the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.
Substance Abuse Program Director at the Hale YMCA Youth and Family Center, Romeo Blackmar, has been with it from the beginning.
He and the Putnam Elks, the Putnam Lions, and the Putnam Police Department have seen 2 ½ tons of unused drugs and related paraphernalia collected — with little sign of abating.
Thirty years ago, Blackmar said: “I got a call from then Chief of Police Rick Hayes while I was attending the Mid-Year CADCA (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America) conference in Phoenix. It was July of 2010 and he said that the Putnam PD and PRIDE should team up with the DEA to do the very first Drug Take Back Day in Putnam. At the time we were the only town in the 10-town area to participate. Back then the Putnam Elks helped PRIDE and the PD with the process.”
He said the average collection twice a year (the last Saturday in April and the last Saturday in October) is usually more than 150 pounds. The April 25 collection at the Farmers Market pavilion filled six boxes and weighed in at 128 pounds, according to Debbie Barbour of the Putnam Lions. Those boxes are destroyed by the Drug Enforcement Agency.
In addition, there is a drop box in the Putnam Police Department’s lobby 24/7/365. No questions asked.
Blackmar said in 2013 Putnam PRIDE purchased that Medication Drop Box for the police station. “At that time we thought that the semi-annual Drug Take Back Day would have reduced participation. The Drop Box has continued to be used and emptied weekly.”
Asked what changes he’s seen in the last 30 years, Blackmar said: “Over the years we have seen a wider range of drugs being collected. The opioid crisis precipitated the biggest changes. We have seen the ‘over prescribing’ of opioid medications result in those highly dangerous pills being misused. This resulted in more overdoses and deaths.”
He added: “I believe that Drug Take Back days have been beneficial in removing abused medications from medicine cabinets and continues to prevent overdoses in communities.”
“Law enforcement is tasked with stopping the supply of illegal drugs coming into our communities; it is up to the rest of us to stop the demand for illegal drugs and the misuse of legally prescribed medications.”
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caption:
From left: Romeo Blackmar, Lion Sheila Coderre, Police Chief Christopher Ferace and police officer and SRO Kyle Maheu. Below: Members of the Putnam Lodge of Elks 574 also took part. Linda Lemmon photos.