UKIAH >> As part of their effort to combat the local opioid epidemic, Safe Rx Mendocino: Opioid Safety Coalition members will host a “Medication Take Back” booth at the upcoming Redwood Empire Fair in Ukiah August 3-6. They invite members of the public to put unwanted over-the-counter or prescription pills into clear, resealable bags and bring them to the booth for disposal, “no questions asked,” said Kyree Klimist, Safe Rx Mendocino Coordinator and Program Manager for Mendocino County Health and Human Services Prevention and Planning Unit.
Coalition members will also offer free medication lock bags at the fair to anyone interested in keeping prescriptions out of the wrong hands.
“The most common way youths get opioids that aren’t theirs is to take them out of someone else’s medicine cabinet,” Klimist explained.
She noted that a lock bag will not prevent someone from stealing the whole bag or from cutting it open and stealing the medication inside, but it will prevent the theft of small amounts of medication that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Safe Rx Mendocino receives funding to provide the lock bags from the Health and Human Services Agency and a $1500 match grant from Ukiah Valley Medical Center (UVMC). Ukiah Drug Free Communities (DFC) Grant at the Arbor in Ukiah distributes lock bags through the Arbor and the Ft. Bragg Police Department donated $1500 to the Ft. Bragg CGAP-DFC Coalition and they are distributing them on the coast as well. “With regard to the lock bags, our goal is get as many lock bags into the community as possible. This helps prevent youth access to prescription drugs that do not belong to them and keeps medication out of the hands of curious toddlers and children,” Klimist said.
Safe Rx Mendocino is made up of a coalition of concerned community members, medical professionals, educators, law enforcement, community-based organizations and others who believe in a community approach to safe management of prescription painkillers in our county, by working with prescribers, fostering education and creating awareness.
Coalition member Elise Wilkins, RN, who works for MCHC Health Centers said, “Making controlled substances harder to steal helps prevent tragedies. A common trend in recent years among teens is to have pill parties. Young people bring whatever pills they can find and put them in a big bowl. Then they grab a few and ingest them (usually with alcohol). As a nurse, this terrifies me. Kids could be allergic to the medications and not know it, or the medications could be deadly in combination with each other. Because the teens don’t know what’s in their system, even with emergency medical attention, the treatment isn’t always fast enough to save them.”
The Coalition is currently working on getting the emergency treatment Nasal Narcan out into the community. Nasal Narcan is a nasal spray used in the event of an opioid overdose when people show signs of breathing problems or are non-responsive.
Wilkins works with patients who are in the process of overcoming addiction. She noted that if people have controlled substances in their house, they should not keep them in an unlocked medicine cabinet or in their underwear drawer, because these are the first places people who want to steal drugs will look. She recommends keeping medications under lock and key in a place people would not think to look.
