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Old drug initative turns to a success

By Mitch Kendra for The Yellow Jacket 4 min read

People become addicted to drugs, ranging from over-the-counter painkillers to heroin, an extremely dangerous substance that people abuse and become easily addicted to after their first usage.

Like other counties in the area, Greene County is doing something to lower the number of drug related incidents that occur within the county.

The National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is an event that has been around for more than 10 years. Greene County participates by giving people an opportunity to turn their unwanted prescription drugs in to collective bins – which are then destroyed – throughout the year. However, twice a year – once in the fall and once in the spring – these national days are solely dedicated to informing and encouraging people to take part.

On Saturday, Sept. 27, one bin was set up on the church street entrance of the courthouse and another bin was placed outside the Carmichaels Borough building.

John Fox, director of Drug and Alcohol Programs for Greene County, was glad to see the productivity of the collection bins after Saturday.

“I checked with both agencies, and participation this fall was probably the best that it’s ever been,” said Fox. “We had four boxes that were removed from the county, so I feel confident that those four boxes of medication won’t be able to be used for any other purpose.”

The collection bins were completely anonymous, as people could show up with their prescription medication, drop it in the bin and be on their way. This was an aspect that the county advertised, with the hope that if more people knew, more people would bring their prescription drugs and dispose of them.

“If they’re even concerned about it, people don’t have to turn them in in the prescription pill bottle. They can put them in a zip lock baggie.” said Fox. “There are some things that they won’t take; they don’t want any liquids, needles or syringes and different things like that, but pretty much any prescription medication, they’ll take it.”

The purpose of both the year-round collections and the two national days is to stop the occurrences of diversion. Diversion is the problem that occurs when people don’t want their prescription drugs anymore and they simply throw them away in the trash. The problem arises when someone that is addicted to drugs will go to any means necessary to fulfill their need, even resorting to searching through trash.

“In a sense, every little bit helps, so getting four boxes out of Green County ultimately down the road saves someone from beginning a prescription pill abuse and then whatever it might lead to,” said Fox. “That’s just a win for our county. I was very proud and very excited about how much we were able to, as a small county, get turned into the DEA for proper disposal.”

These days are important because even though they can’t get all the drugs off of the streets, the ones they can try to help people consider turning in is a great help in lowering the amount of drugs locally.

Aside from the collecting of unwanted prescription drugs, the county also offers many different programs with their prevention staff, such as tobacco control and helping people who face gambling problems. The prevention programs work with the five school districts that are in the county every year.

Fox is glad that the schools take the time to teach kids about the problems different substances have on their lives.

“I’m very proud of the prevention work we do, because really the key is to teach kids early and often of the dangers of even thinking about starting some of those substances, so we have a very robust prevention program,” said Fox.

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