A service dedicated to getting prescription drugs off the street is hoping to combat the latest increase in opioid usage across the region.
A drug-drop off will be held on May 11 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. and is encouraging residents to dig into their medicine cabinets and safely dispose of any pills they do not need. Takebacks are being accepted at the Shoppers Drug Mart at 30 McNaughton Avenue in Wallaceburg, the Chatham-Kent Court House, and the Shoppers Drug Mart at 20 Mill Street in Tilbury.
"I think the public recognizes there is an issue of abuse of prescription drugs in our community," said Constable Lynette Hodder, who is organizing the disposal service. "These programs are designed to get these types of medications off of the street and out of the hands of people who really shouldn't be using them."
The idea for a drug-drop off started as a pilot project by the Niagara Regional Police in 2012. A year later it was endorsed as a four-year crime prevention initiative. In 2017 the program had ended, however, police chief Gary Conn recognized its importance to Chatham-Kent.
"As citizens drop off their medications they are separated into two sections, narcotics and non-narcotics," said Hodder. "The non-narcotic pills are weighed while the narcotic pills we separate into certain categories and then counted individually."
Last year police collected just over 2,000 pills, which is up about 67 per cent from 2017. The five-year total for the drop-off program is now up to 9,278 narcotic pills.
"We have received some fentanyl as well ... one year we even received a glass vial of morphine," said Hodder. "The majority of the narcotic pills that we take in are opioids."
This year's drug drop-off coincides with statistics provided by the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance and Chatham-Kent Police Services, which shows an increase of opioid-related incidents first responders are being called to.
Between April 15 – April 21, emergency medical services responded to seven opioid calls. On average, the response team gets called to five per month, said Donald MacLellan, the general manager of Chatham-Kent EMS, last week.
On Monday, public communications officer Const. Renee Cowell said police responded to 10 opioid calls between April 22 – April 29. In three of those cases, Narcan was used to treat an overdose.
Although the event is one day, Hodder is reminding the public they are able to dispose of their medications any time at their local pharmacy.