Pam Dudding-Burch Contributing writer
Sheriff Trevor Craddock assisting the community by collecting old medications for safe disposal.
“I’m giving you my drugs,” one citizen shared grinning as he dropped his old prescription medications in the ‘take back’ drug drop off box. Many citizens of Craig expressed their appreciation to Sherriff Trevor Craddock as they brought their old medications to the drop off box for disposal.
On Saturday, April 29, Craddock stood in the hot sun from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., helping to provide a safe place for local citizens to dispose of their old medications properly.
“Everyone wants to know what to do with them,” Stacey Fisher, Pharmacist of Market Street Pharmacy, shared. “We can’t take them back as they are considered a controlled substance and we would be fined.”
“I am grateful they had this today,” one citizen shared. “We know we’re not suppose to dump them into our toilets because it contaminates the water, so this really helps.”
This year, the County worked diligently in getting the word out to the community. “It was one of the better ‘take back’ events we have had,” Craddock said. “I would like to thank the community for their support, especially Market Street Pharmacy and Food Country.”
J.D. Carlin, Prevention Specialist at Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare, shared that the role of the newspaper in getting the word out about this event, “is the #1 reason for its success.” Fisher added, “I think it’s a great program. They did a great job of spreading the word this year.”
With no appointments necessary and no questions asked, many shared they were happy to clean out their medicine cabinets and to get them out of their homes. J.D. Carlin believed that the event was a tremendous success. “We had numerous people come by and drop off unused, unneeded and unwanted drugs,” he said. “We were able to have conversations with some people about the importance of proper drug disposal.”
JD also shared that people asked if these events could be held more often. Both Craddock and Carlin answered several other questions as well. “In the end, a lot of drugs will now be properly disposed of leading to a safer community and a cleaner water supply,” Carlin said.
So, Craig has fewer drugs now than it did last week. However, for people who were unable to drop off medications, the police department has a disposal kit available called a ‘Medication Disposal System.’
It is simple to use. Individuals place their medications in the pouch provided, fill it with water and wait 30 seconds before sealing it and shaking it before ultimately disposing of it.
“We collected 32.8 pounds of old medication,” Craddock shared. “The old medication that we collected will be destroyed and with this medication destroyed hopefully we have closed the door on another avenue to addiction.”