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Saving Kids and Rivers From Drugs – Operation Medicine Cabinet Takes Place Saturday, Oct. 27, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Oct. 22, 2012.  Do you have outdated or unused prescription drugs, over the counter medications, syringes or other medical supplies?

Come drop them off at the sponsored take-back centers on Saturday October 27, 2012 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Take-back locations will be available at the Foscoe Fire Department, Beaverdam Fire Department and the three Food Lion stores in Watauga County: the Highway 321 store in Boone, the Highway 421 Deep Gap store, and the Blowing Rock store. It is an amnesty day, so no questions will be asked.

Three years ago, on Oct. 3, 2009, a broad coalition of community partners came together to create the first ever prescription drug take-back day in the High Country. Since that first event two years ago, a total of six “Operation Medicine Cabinet” events have been held every May and October as part of the Watauga County household hazardous waste day. Here are the number of pills collected since the event began:

Date

Pills collected

October 2009

40,000

May 2010

188,000

October 2010

350,000

May 2011

87,285

October 2011

88,000

May 2012

153,778

Total

907,063

Thanks to broad support by community members across the region, the High Country has collected a total of 907,063 pills since 2009. That makes our group the best in the state. Our community outperformed Raleigh, Charlotte and Asheville even though they are much larger.

In 2010, our local Operation Medicine Cabinet was recognized as a model program and adopted by other community groups across North Carolina. In 2011, more than forty drug take back events were held across the state. This year, the High Country group wants to continue leading the state by being the first group to collect more than million pills. We need to collect 93, 000 pill on Saturday to reach our goal.

The disposal of prescription drugs has long been a dilemma, and many medicine cabinets contain unused or outdated medications. Among teenagers, the fastest growing illegal drug use is the abuse of prescription drugs. The most common method of obtaining prescription drugs is by raiding the medicine cabinet of a friend or family, then consuming the pills or selling them.

“From a law enforcement perspective, one of our most important jobs is to work diligently and proactively to prevent drug abuse,” said Watauga County Sheriff Len D. Hagaman. “By hosting an amnesty day that allows the public to turn in any kind of unused or unwanted medications, hopefully, we will keep those drugs off the street and out of the hands of children.”

Another problem with outdated or unused prescription drugs is that people dispose of them improperly by flushing them down the toilet. If their home is connected to a local waste water treatment facility, then the drugs wind up in either the Watauga River or New River.

“A recent investigation by the Associated Press found a whole host of pharmaceuticals-including antibiotics, pain medication, anti-depressants, sex hormones, heart and blood pressure medicine-in the drinking water supplies of more than 40 million Americans,”[1] said Donna Lisenby, Watauga Riverkeeper.

“It has been very rewarding to see how enthusiastically people have united to support Operation Medicine Cabinet,” said Dick and Joan Hearn of the Watauga River Partners. “We have over 30 community partners, including, Helen M. Clabough Charitable Foundation, MountainKeepers, the towns and police departments of Beech Mountain, Boone, Blowing Rock and Seven Devils, the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office, the State Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Safe Kids North Carolina, Boone Drug, Watauga County Recycling/Solid Waste Department, Watauga Riverkeeper/Western North Carolina Alliance, Food Lion, Appalachian Voices, Precision Printing, Foscoe and Beaverdam Fire Departments, the Smoky Mountain Center and Appalachian State University just to name a few.”

One of the strongest community partners that has supported Operation Medicine Cabinet since it began in 2009 has been Boone Drug. They have staffed every event with pharmacy personnel to assist law enforcement officers to properly identify, count and catalog the pills collected in accordance with the Drug Enforcement Agency permit requirements.

Carrie Phillips, Marketing Coordinator for the locally owned and operated business said, “Boone Drug is dedicated to making sure prescription drugs are handled safely and disposed of properly. We are proud to volunteer our time and support this community project. We hope everybody will come see us at the collection events on October 27, 2012 and join us in the community wide effort to be the first county in North Carolina collect more than one million pills and save our rivers and kids from drugs.”

To find out more about the event please visit us online at www.DrugTakeBackDay.com.