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Ohio has one of the highest rates of opioid-related overdose deaths in the country, with nearly 30 deaths per 100,000 people in 2018. During the first six months of 2020, as COVID-19 limited in-person access to prevention and treatment resources nationwide, Ohio’s Franklin County experienced a 73% increase in overdose fatalities.
Community for New Direction (CND), a nonprofit providing community-based mental health and educational programs in Franklin County, has included Deterra® Drug Deactivation and Disposal System in its prevention efforts since 2018 thanks to a partnership with the Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Board of Franklin County (ADAMH). When in-person events and opportunities were canceled last year, they needed to find a way to continue to provide this service to the community.
“Dealing with a pandemic and an epidemic, our distribution strategy had to be adjusted,” says Kari Roll, Director of Development and Community Relations at CND. “We knew that getting the Deterra Pouches directly into people’s hands was the best way to distribute them, so we had to figure out how to get in front of the community during COVID-19.”
ADAMH began providing Deterra to Columbus Public Health to hand out at COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites. In addition, CND and ADAMH connected with local nonprofits and community groups to offer Deterra at food distribution sites, churches and other locations to continue to get prevention tools into the community alongside other much-needed resources.
With funding from ADAMH, CND had been providing Deterra Pouches through its treatment programs and at community events since 2018. During the pandemic, the two organizations coordinated a grassroots effort to distribute prevention resources at testing sites, food pantries and other events through local nonprofits, area commissions and the Mid-Ohio Food bank.
“At the beginning of the pandemic when everything shut down, we didn’t have a plan in place to do distribution,” says Mackenzie Betts, ADAMH Community Relations Manager. “We soon realized there were opportunities to share mental health information and resources in our community like the Deterra Drug Deactivation Pouches in a socially distanced way.”
Together, the groups distributed 10,000 Deterra Pouches in 2020 despite the cancellation of many inperson prevention events. The pouches provide the community with an easy-to-use, environmentally sound at-home drug disposal option and feature a custom ADAMH label with safe medication disposal tips and contact information.
“The first year we put the labels on ourselves, but it was time consuming, and we wanted them to look more professional. We worked with Deterra to create a label that they adhere to the pouch before they’re assembled, so the finished product looks better and stays put,” says Betts.
CND also partnered with the Ohio Opioid Education Alliance as sponsors of the Sinclair Broadcasting series “Healing Together” to produce monthly stories on the opioid epidemic. Watch a segment featuring ADAMH CEO David Royer spotlighting their Deterra distribution efforts here: Safe Medication Disposal Bags – WBNS TV10 – YouTube.
CND and ADAMH have distributed about 10,000 Deterra Pouches annually in Franklin County over the last three years, and in 2020 demand was so high they ran out.
“It’s needed now more than ever: people are stuck in their homes, everyone is cleaning out their closets and organizing their houses, so the pouches are a great reminder to not forget about cleaning out the medicine cabinet,” says Roll.
CND will continue to distribute the pouches through its mental health programs and at events, and residents can fill out a form on the ADAMH website to request a pouch be mailed to their home. Both agencies have found creative ways to meet the community’s needs during the pandemic and beyond, including a recent distribution of Deterra Pouches to Columbus Metropolitan Library staff when the library joined the Ohio Opioid Education Alliance.
“It is really nice to have something that we can give people to use at home and create opportunities to talk about mental health and substance use,” says Roll. “Safe medication disposal is becoming part of our culture, and we’re seeing more agencies working to change medication disposal behavior while supporting under served populations who lack access to prevention resources.”
Visit DeterraSystem.com/government to explore how other organizations are using Deterra or reach out to (612) 568-1128 or Sales@DeterraSystem.com to discuss how to implement at-home drug disposal initiatives in your community.
