Henry Raymond
Fairfax News => Current News & Events => Topic started by: Henry on August 29, 2008, 06:50:37 PM
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The Rx Drug drop off at the St. Albans Police Station was so successful a while back, that they have decided to make it a permanent thing - I'm sure if I ever have any, I will be sure to drop them off there. It sure beats mashing them up, dissolving them in water and putting them in used cat litter as it is suggested you do with any old or excess prescription drugs.
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Heartened by public reaction, City Police retain pill program
Written By Leon Thompson - St. Albans Messenger Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
8,500 prescription doses already collected
ST. ALBANS CITY –– The city police department has integrated what had been a one time pilot program into its regular crime-mitigation efforts.
The Prescription Drug Repository Program was so popular among city residents that it will continue indefinitely as a partnership between police and the Northwestern Medical Center (NMC), Chief Gary Taylor said Friday.
“The overwhelming response demonstrates the necessity of providing this service to the citizens of Franklin County,” Taylor said.
Since the start of the program on May 21, police have collected more than 8,500 prescription pills from city residents who no longer want or need them in their homes. All the surrendered drugs are incinerated through the NMC’s waste disposal program, according to Taylor.
From May 21 to June 21, during the pilot program, city police collected a whopping 7,000 prescription pills. Even after the 30-day test project ended, citizens kept bringing their old or unused prescription drugs to the St. Albans Police Station, on Lower Welden Street.
City residents who no longer want expired or unused medicines and prescription-related devices can bring them to the city police station. Drugs that were submitted to the city during the pilot project ranged from narcotic painkillers to diabetes medication.
The city did not refuse anything tied to a prescription. Some residents disposed of their asthma inhalers and anti-smoking patches.
Taylor has said the success of the program is proof that city residents have paid attention to crime trends and are eager to get drugs out of their homes, so that they are “not on the target list” of addicts, robbers and dealers.
Prescription drugs have been the motive behind recent assaults and robberies in the city and other parts of Franklin County.
The program is one among many that city police have developed to curb a wave of violent, drug-related crime. This summer, city police have also held a graffiti clean-up day and stepped up its Neighborhood Watch efforts.
An ad hoc committee also formed to look at crime-related issues in the city.