CAMA sponsors Operation Medicine Cabinet

SARAH SCHMIDT
sschmidt@parisbeacon.com

Not everyone finishes their cold medication when they recover from the sniffles, which is why the Coalition Against Methamphetamine Abuse is sponsoring a medicine give-back for Paris and Marshall.

Operation Medicine Cabinet, sponsored by CAMA and the CAMA Teens, began last year with the goal of getting people to drop off their old medication for proper disposal. The CAMA Teens will be running a car wash at the same time for those who drop off medication as an added benefit to hopefully get more people to drop off old medication, both prescription and over-the-counter.

“Last year, we picked up about 120 pounds of medicine,” said CAMA Director Kristen Chittick. “The purpose is twofold - there’s a 14 percent abuse rate in our area of Clark and Edgar Counties, according to a youth risk behavior survey we took. The kids told us that this was going on, so we decided to follow it up.”
Chittick said teens taking the survey indicated that one common source for substance abuse was the medicine cabinet. This, she said, is the preventative side of Operation Medicine Cabinet, as they work to dispose of medicines that might fall into the wrong hands. Chittick also said this drive worked to remind people of accessible these medications were for people living in the same household.

“This is also to remind people that drugs and medicine are easy to come by,” said Chittick. “It’s not from a drug dealer on the street. We’re trying to make it important for parents and grandparents (to dispose of old medication).”

The other purpose of the program is to keep people from disposing of old medicines in an unsafe manner. Chittick said that many put their old medicines in the trash or flush them, something that the P2D2 ecology program said can harm the environment. The P2D2 program is helping to support this year’s Operation Medicine Cabinet.

When people drop their old medicines off, Chittick said, there will be law enforcement on site, since some of the medicines dropped off are narcotics. No one will ask any questions about how they came by the medicines, she said, and no information or prescription bottles needed to be dropped off. The program could mark out any prescription bottle personal information with a Sharpie, Chittick said. Once the medicines are identified, tallied, and weighed, she said that law enforcement would transport the meds and have them incinerated.

“The goal is just to get rid of it,” said Chittick. “To sort the meds, we will have a pharmacist on both sites, partly because the Drug Enforcement Administration wants us to. They have their whole protocol, and they want to know what medicines are being brought back.”

Alongside Operation Medicine Cabinet, the CAMA Teens will be holding a car wash for those dropping off old medicine, with popcorn and lemonade available at the side while the teens work. Chittick noted that donations to their program would be accepted and appreciated.

Operation Medicine Cabinet will be held in two locations simultaneously on Sept. 11, from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m., at the Citizens’ National Bank East Branch in Paris, across from the McDonald’s, and at Lincoln Trails Ford on Route 1 in Marshall. For more information, Chittick said, people could contact her at 465-4118, ext. 267, or go to the Web site at www.camacoalition.org.