The City of Somerville and Mayor Katjana Ballantyne join President Biden in taking October 2022 to elevate ongoing efforts to help treat and prevent substance misuse by youth. President Biden named October 2022 National Youth Substance Use Prevention Month, calling upon our nation’s communities to uplift youth, build prevention infrastructure, and lead youth towards healthy, substance-free decisions.

Prescription drug misuse among young people is a nationwide crisis. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, an estimated 4.4% of 12th graders reported misusing any prescription drug in the past 12 months. Two-thirds of teens who misused pain relievers in the past year say that they got them from family and friends, including their home’s medicine cabinets, demonstrating the importance of safe medication storage and disposal, as well as education and resources to help families prevent or treat substance misuse.

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day

The City of Somerville’s Community Outreach, Help, and Recovery (COHR) unit and Prevention Services division will host two National Prescription Drug Take Back Day locations on Saturday, October 29, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at 220 Washington Street and 6 Newbury Street. City staff will be on-site at both locations, collecting any unused or expired medications as well as provide overdose prevention information and resources. Each location will also distribute free Narcan, fentanyl test strips, and COVID-19 tests.

For bottled medications, residents should remove or scratch out any personal information while leaving the name of the medication visible before disposing. Sharps (needles and syringes) should be placed in a secure container (like a coffee can or laundry detergent bottle) before disposing only at the 220 Washington Street location

In addition to collection events each spring and fall, Somerville offers 24/7, year-round disposal kiosks at the Public Safety Building (220 Washington Street) for medications and sharps. 

For more information, please contact COHR Director Patty Contente at pcontente@somervillema.gov or Prevention Services Manager Matthew Mitchell at mmitchell@somervillema.gov. 

Youth and Family Substance Misuse Resources

Somerville Prevention Services is committed to leading efforts around the prevention of drug misuse in the City of Somerville and supports Somerville Cares About Prevention (SCAP) to reduce underage substance misuse and the associated harms by increasing public knowledge and mobilizing the community.

SCAP is a community-based coalition that engages middle and high school leaders for the Somerville Positive Forces (SPF) programs each school year, a paid opportunity for local students to directly impact their communities. Both SPF100, for high school students, and SPFJr., for middle school students, empower Somerville youth to learn leadership skills and create lasting changes.

Any middle or high school aged youth interested in serving as an ambassador for youth and prevention efforts, advocating for social justice-based solutions, conducting awareness campaigns related to substance misuse prevention and mental health, and collaborating with a variety of leaders and organizations to support group goals, can apply online at bit.ly/SPFJR and bit.ly/SPF100hiring.

Somerville Prevention will also host its first Let’s Talk virtual workshop for adult caregivers on Thursday, November 10, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Let’s Talk aims to educate caregivers on how to facilitate productive, open, and non-judgmental conversations with youth about substances. Participants will receive a $20.00 Target gift card for participation. To attend, please go to bit.ly/prevent2022. 

For more information on the Let’s Talk virtual workshop, contact Substance Misuse Prevention Coordinator Lily Dolyak at ldolyak@somervillema.gov. For more information on the SCAP Youth Ambassador Program, contact SCAP Program Director Lovelee Heller-Bottari at lheller@somervillema.gov.