Torrington, Conn. Mayor Ryan Bingham unveiled a new anti-drug initiative for all retail businesses in the city. He has called for all businesses to remove a specific item from their shelves known as a “love rose.” This is a novelty item that consists of a small plastic rose inside of a two or three inch clear glass pipe known on the street as a stem. Many addicts buy these cheap trinkets, remove the rose and insert a small screen in order to construct a crack pipe, the mayor said.

The Drug Free Business Zone program calls upon local business to voluntarily refrain from selling love roses and in return the City will provide the business with a sign reading “Drug Free Business Zone,” which can be displayed in order to notify the public of their civic minded choice.

“Too long have we allowed people to profit off of the degradation of our city. Today, we ask our businesses to stand with us and stop making the use of drugs cheap and easy. Our first partner in this effort is the Cumberland Farms organization and we certainly thank them for their efforts. However, I want to personally invite any and all businesses located in Torrington to join our fight against drugs and drug paraphernalia,” said Mayor Bingham.

The Mayor’s Office asked if Cumberland Farms would be willing to work with the City and they graciously agreed to be the first participant in the Drug Free Business Zone Program. In fact, their organization has gone above and beyond our requirement of removing the love rose and has removed several other items they feel could be used to aid drug use.

“Cumberland Farms takes pride in the communities it serves. Torrington’s youth is the future of this community and Cumberland Farms is proud to support Mayor Bingham’s fight and take the lead in preventing the sale of drug paraphernalia,” said John Babbitts, a general manager with Cumberland Farms.