St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office and
St. Mary’s County Department of Aging & Human Services Partner to Offer
Medication Collection for the Homebound During
National Take-Back Day
Each year, communities across the
country offer to collect residents' unused medications as part of the National
Prescription Drug Take-Back Day Initiative, sponsored by the Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA). Three years ago, the St. Mary's County Sheriff’s Office,
in partnership with the Department of Aging & Human Services, started a
door-to-door medication collection for homebound residents.
The Sheriff’s Office and the
Department of Aging & Human Services had recognized that, while many
residents are able to take advantage of
the convenient 24/7 medication drop boxes situated in the Sheriff’s Office
lobby, there is a segment of county residents unable to access this service:
the homebound. Persons who are homebound due to age or mobility issues, do not
always have the proper means to dispose of their unused medications, creating a
situation that can make them vulnerable criminal targets.
According to the DEA Office of
Diversion Control, 73% of teens indicate that it is easy to get prescription
drugs from their parents' medicine cabinets. In
addition, up to 38% of teens who have misused or abused a prescription
drug obtained it at home.
The collection of medications, both
through the homebound pick-up and convenient drop boxes, benefits public safety
by decreasing the supply of controlled dangerous substances available for
misuse, abuse, diversion, and accidental ingestion. The disposal methods used
by the Sheriff's Office also protect the environment from potentially harmful
contaminants by providing a proper, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
approved, means of disposal.
During the National Take-Back
Initiative, held April 30, 2016, members of the Sheriff’s Office Special
Operations Division, including Corporal W. Daniel Ray of the Lexington Park
COPs Unit, assisted in collecting a total of 8,111
pills from homebound residents. Leonardtown Community Policing Officer, Peggy
Smolarsky, and Captain Daniel Alioto, also set up a table at the Cedar Lane
Senior Living Community in Leonardtown, for residents who wished to dispose of
their unused medications in a safe environment. Sheriff's deputies stationed at
Cedar Lane distributed additional information about the take-back initiative
and were available to answer questions.
“The St. Mary's County Sheriff’s
Office remains committed to progressively combating pharmaceutical diversion
within our community; this is one more event which highlights our efforts and
partnerships,” says Captain Daniel Alioto.
“It’s proven that heroin addiction begins with the abuse of opioid
medications. A preemptive collection of
these medications is a logical strategy, which has a significant impact as the
first step to curbing opioid addiction. I speak on behalf of the entire
Sheriff’s Office when I say we are thankful for our agency's relationships with
our partners, including the Department of Aging & Human Services and the
community. This type of collaboration not only prevents medications from
falling into the wrong hands, but it further serves to protect our elderly
citizens from becoming targets of crime.”
The take-back initiative is a
coordinated effort across St. Mary’s County. It includes education about proper
use and storage of medication; prescription drug monitoring programs; proper
disposal of medication; and enforcement
against offenders. In 2016, thus far, 105,774 pills have been collected. This brings the total medications collected during
the life of the program to 854,420.
According to Lori Jennings-Harris,
Director, Department of Aging & Human Services, “Recognizing a need to
assist our county’s older adults, the collaboration between the Sheriff’s
Office and the Department of Aging & Human Services in this effort is an
important one. Keeping our older citizens
aware of and safe from the dangers of maintaining an unused and unwanted
medication in their homes benefits the community in multiple ways, including
reducing the availability of unused medications to our youth.”
Sheriff Cameron expresses his
gratitude to citizens for recognizing the importance of properly disposing of
unused medications and thanks residents for their exceptional participation in
the initiative.
 |
Corporal W. Daniel Ray, of the
Lexington Park COPs Unit; Vice/Narcotics Support Team, collects unwanted
medication from a homebound resident at Victory Woods Senior Apartments in
Lexington Park, as part of National Take-Back Day.
|
