This Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Davidson County Sheriff’s Office, along with the Thomasville, Lexington and Denton police departments, are conducting Operation Medicine Drop throughout the area where people can properly discard any old or leftover prescriptions so they won’t end up in the wrong hands.
“This is an excellent opportunity for these law enforcement agencies to partner together and address a problem that is affecting our whole community,” TPD Chief Jeff Insley said at a joint press conference Tuesday morning. “I think all of us, if you look in the medicine cabinet, have a bottle with a few pills left in it. These are the drugs that are re-circulating and getting into the hands of our kids. It’s becoming a very prevalent problem.”
There will be a total of seven drop-off locations in the county, including Thomasville Fire Department Station 2 at 815 N.C. Highway 109 South and Wallburg Fire Department at 121 Georgetown Road. Drop-offs also can be made at Arcadia Fire Department at 1374 Ruff Leonard Road in Lexington, Tyro Fire Department at 4646 N.C. Highway 150 South in Lexington, Lexington Fire Department Station 1 at 200 E. Center St., Southmont Fire Department at 11030 N.C. Highway 8 in Lexington and Denton Fire Department at 101 Newsom Ave. Everything collected will be catalogued and taken to the State Bureau of Investigation for disposal.
Davidson County Sheriff David Grice said that misused prescriptions are second only to marijuana in the nation’s fight against drug abuse. More than 2.2 million youth in the country between ages 12 and 17 use prescription drugs for non-medical reasons and 70 percent of teens who abuse these medications admit to obtaining the drugs free, mostly from friends and relatives. It’s estimated that 2,500 children between 12 and 17 abuse a prescription painkiller for the first time every day. Drug treatment admissions for prescription painkillers increased more than 300 percent from 1995 to 2005.
“We want to get these drugs to a safe location,” said Grice. “This is a growing problem. These are diverted drugs that are not being used for their intended purposes. These drugs are literally killing people. Young people are crushing them up, snorting them and overdosing. This is one small step to get these drugs out of circulation.”
Some of the most abused drugs are “opiod” pain relievers such as oxycotin, vicodin and products containing codeine and morphine. Unintentional poisoning from prescriptions medications also is on the rise as nearly 4,500 people have died from it since 1999. Both Thomasville fire stations held similar drop-off sites on Wednesday.
“I think it’s great,” Leslie Miller said after dropping off a bag of unused meds, including some vicodin and hydrocodone. “I didn’t know what to do with the stuff. I didn’t want to throw it away or flush it down the toilet so I just kept it in the cupboard.”
Operation Medicine Drop is promoted by the Drug Enforcement Agency and the State Bureau of Investigation, and encourages participation from law enforcement agencies from throughout the state. Grice and Insley were joined by Denton Chief of Police Mark Hicks and Lexington Chief of Police John Lollis.
Anyone found with prescription drugs that are not their own can be charged with possession of a controlled substance.
Staff Writer Eliot Duke can be reached at 888-3578, or duke@tvilletimes.com.
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