by Donald Eng
HARTFORD, CT — Gov. Ned Lamont learned firsthand the difficulties of disposing of unwanted medication when he had a hip replaced several years ago.
“They asked me if I wanted opioid drugs just in case the pain was too much,” Lamont said at a media briefing Wednesday morning.
Lamont said he declined the medication, but later faced the problem of disposing of the dozen pills.
“I knew enough not to throw them down the toilet,” he said, citing the potential contamination dangers in the water supply. Throwing them in the trash is also not ideal.
The problem is common enough that the state, as part of Red Ribbon Week from Oct. 23 – Oct. 31, is distributing 50,000 Deterra drug deactivation pouches by mail in about 40 communities. The pouches, targeted at households with children, are billed as a simple, environmentally safe way to prevent prescription drug misuse.
“This project shows what’s possible when state agencies, legislators and prevention partners work together toward a common goal — keeping our children and families safe,” said Kelly Juleson, copresident of the Governor’s Prevention Partnership. She called the pouch campaign “a simple but powerful way to make prevention part of everyday life.”
The pouches deactivate prescription and over-the-counter medications, liquids, patches and creams. Users simply place the unwanted substances in the pouch and add warm water. The sealed pouch can then be tossed in the trash.
The program, in which about 50,000 pouches will be distributed each year until 2029, is part of a $2 million prevention program funded through the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services through the Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee. Juleson estimated as many as 90% of pouch recipients will use the pouches, most within 24 hours of receiving them.
Last year, she said, a similar distribution in greater Hartford and New Haven corresponded with a 26% decrease in overdoses in Connecticut.
“We don’t think that’s a coincidence,” she said.
Jason Sundby, CEO of Verde Technologies, which makes Deterra, said he expects the bags to remove about 2 million pills from circulation each year of the program.
Programs like the Deterra pouches are part of the reason why Connecticut is a leader in combating the opioid crisis, said state Sen. Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield. He said the issue was not a Democratic or Republican problem.
“Every individual in the state, unfortunately, is touched by this crisis,” he said.
Gov. Ned Lamont speaks about Deterra drug deactivation bags at a media briefing in the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, CT on Oct. 29, 2025. Credit: Donald Eng / CTNewsJunkie
Lamont agreed, saying that preventing prescription opioids like fentanyl from getting into the hands of youths was a cost-effective, simple means of battling drug addiction and overdoses.
“We’re not going to stop this by interdiction,” he said. “We’ll stop it by killing the demand.”