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Every day, 1,500 American youths abuse a prescription pain reliever for the first time. Addiction to prescription drugs often starts in the home medicine cabinet, where leftover medications are easily accessible by family members and visitors. In fact, over 70 percent of people who abuse prescription painkillers acquire them from friends or relatives. With students at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, North Carolina’s Thomasville City Schools (TCS) wanted to provide a safe and convenient way for families to dispose of leftover medications at home.
Public schools are well-positioned to educate students and their families about the potential risks posed by keeping unused drugs in the home. Even during a pandemic, schools can help ensure their communities have the means to stay safe and drug-free. Recently, TCS partnered with the national nonprofit SAFE Project to provide drug abuse prevention education and resources to students and families.
“Educators and administrators are in a unique position to inform our students, staff and parents of the simple steps they can take to be a part of the solution to prevent drug abuse in their own homes,” says TCS Superintendent Dr. Catherine R. Gentry.
In observance of Red Ribbon Week, the nation’s largest and longest-running drug-use prevention campaign, TCS made Deterra® Drug Deactivation System and information about safe medication disposal available to the families of the 4,000-6,000 children and teenagers participating in the school’s Food Drive-Thru. Free Deterra Pouches accompanied every meal given out during the daylong event. The pouches were provided by the Rx Abuse Leadership Initiative (RALI).
“Through our partnership with Thomasville City Schools, we hope to stop drug abuse before it begins by removing leftover medications from community households, eliminating the possibility of accidental poisoning, suicide, abuse, misuse and diversion,” says Randy Abbott, Manager of Volunteer Programs at SAFE Project.
Abbott assisted in handing out Deterra Pouches during the Food Drive-Thru alongside Claudia Marini, Exceptional Children’s Assistant Director of TCS. “We had an amazing day. There was a non-stop steady line the entire day until 4 p.m.,” Abbott says. “We had the opportunity to speak with so many parents, grandparents, etc. about the importance of proper storage and disposal of medications. Many were very surprised to hear the statistics of how many teens report getting drugs from the home medicine cabinet.”
“The fact we were able to reach out to so many families in one day [during a pandemic] and provide such invaluable information and the resource to back it up, was just phenomenal,” adds Marini.
400 Deterra Pouches were given out at the event, enough to eliminate up to 36,000 unused pills. TCS will continue to educate and disperse the Deterra Pouches to staff, students and families through future school events. The district is also making Deterra available to school nurses, guidance counselors and social workers for home visits.
“We hope the event inspires other schools in the area to think creatively about drug abuse
prevention in their own communities,” says Marini.
Visit DeterraSystem.com/government to explore how other organizations are using Deterra or reach out to (612) 568-1128 or Sales@DeterraSystem.com to discuss how to implement at-home drug disposal initiatives in your community.
