Van Drew, Andrzejczak & Land Applaud Inspira Opioid Abuse Prevention Effort

TRENTON — Senator Jeff Van Drew, Assemblyman Bob Andrzejczak and Assemblyman Bruce Land (all D-Cape May/Cumberland/Atlantic) applauded Inspira Health Network for taking a proactive role in helping to remove unused prescription drugs from homes and communities. The hospital recently announced that it would distribute to community agencies a device that deactivates the active ingredients in medications, allowing for at-home disposal of prescription drugs.
“The opioid epidemic is affecting every corner of New Jersey, and the rate of overdose deaths in the South Jersey region is amongst the highest in the state. We are working at the state level to combat this problem and will vote on legislation Monday to address addiction from a number of angles,” said Senator Van Drew. “But it will take participation from the state, health partners and residents to end the epidemic. This program helps to remove drugs from medicine cabinets and prevent them from ending up on our streets. We are pleased to hear that already thousands of pouches have been distributed in our region and look forward to the continued success of this effort.”
The hospital system partnered with the Cumberland, Salem and Gloucester Health and Wellness Alliance to provide community agencies with the Deterra Drug Deactivation System free of charge. Deterra can be used for easy and environmentally-friendly disposal of prescription drugs at home. The system works by first placing pills into a pouch; it uses a molecular absorption technology to neutralize active chemicals in prescription drugs when water is added. The pouch can then be disposed of in the trash.
To date, the product has been provided to 27 social service agencies in the Salem, Gloucester and Cumberland county area and 6,800 pouches have been distributed, according to Inspira officials. Each pouch can hold 90 pills, and the program has the potential to take 4 million pills out of circulation.
“I want to thank Inspira for being an active partner in helping to reduce the amount of prescription opioids in our schools and communities,” said Assemblyman Andrzejczak. “This is a process that residents can use in their own homes to deactivate medications and dispose of them in the trash. This removes the potential for leftover drugs to get into the wrong hands and end up in a school or neighborhood. It makes sense.”
“We know that unused prescription pills that are left in medicine cabinets too often are the supply source for young people, and how addiction starts. We have to look at everything we can do to prevent prescription drug abuse,” said Assemblyman Land. “This is an innovative but fairly easy way that residents can be part of the broader solution to end this epidemic and save lives.”
According to Inspira, Gloucester County’s mortality rate from opioid overdose ranks among the highest in the state and Cumberland and Salem counties are not far behind, ranking among the top third for highest mortality (2012-2014 County Health Rankings). Among the agencies which received the product are the county health departments in Salem, Gloucester and Cumberland counties, where they are provided to residents free of charge, according to Inspira.
For more information or to obtain the product, residents may contact Inspira Health Network at 856-641-8389. Additional information may be found here: http://www.inspirahealthnetwork.org/deterra