Law enforcement, education, healthcare and community agencies in Union County, NC will join together on Saturday, October 3, 2009 to host Operation Medicine Drop, a program designed to help keep unused medications out of the wrong hands.
The program will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. During this time, community members are encouraged to check their medicine cabinets and take any old, unused or out-of-date prescription or over-the-counter medications to one of the following drop-off locations:
Wal-Mart – 2406 W. Roosevelt Blvd., Monroe
Wal-Mart Supercenter – 2101 Younts Road, Indian Trail
Waxhaw Police Department – 703 W. South Main St., Suite E, Waxhaw (next to Captain’s Galley)
Food Lion – 221 W. Highway 74, Wingate
Local law enforcement personnel will be on-hand at each drop-off point to safely secure the medications and prepare for their proper disposal. Medication drop-offs will only be accepted at these locations during the set hours.
Sheriff Eddie Cathey is excited about the program. He stated, “Experts estimate that one in five teenagers have abused a prescription medication for the purpose of getting high or self medicating. It has long been acknowledged that the home medicine cabinet is a ready source for drugs of abuse, even more so than street-level drug dealers. We are proud to partner with these agencies to provide this service to the citizens of Union County in the hope of reducing the threat of death, injury or dependence from these drugs. This program represents a team effort to bring awareness to a national problem, and presents an opportunity to intervene in a well-documented type of drug abuse.”
“The misuse of prescription drugs is a serious matter with potentially life threatening consequences,”
said Ed Davis, Ed.D., Union County Public Schools Superintendent. “UCPS will take an aggressive approach to make sure that students are not misusing or distributing these drugs at school. In order to do this we need the cooperation of students, teachers, parents, and the law enforcement community. Operation Medicine Drop is an effort to better educate the public about this problem facing our students today. I ask that everyone join together as we agree to do all that we can to minimize and eliminate this threat to the safety and well-being of our students.”
Operation Medicine Drop is sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Administration, NC State Bureau of Investigation, Union County Sheriff’s Office, Monroe Police Department, Union County Public Schools, Carolinas Medical Center-Union, Union County Safe Kids/Safe Communities, Southeast Pain Care-Union and Behavioral Health Center First Step in partnership with the Waxhaw Police Department, Wingate Police Department, Marshville Police Department, Stallings Police Department, Food Lion, Wal-Mart, United Way of the Central Carolinas (Latino Outreach Project), American Red Cross and the Union County Safe and Drug Free Community Partnership.
For more information about Operation Medicine Drop, call 704-283-3765.
2009 MonroeScoop.com Monroe, NC
what a great program. if everyone had programs like this so many kids would be saved from harmful exposure to these drugs that are just lying around. the key is education and community involvement.