John Burke, commander of the Warren County, Ohio, drug task force and retired commander of the Cincinnati Police Pharmaceutical Diversion Squad, is a 40-year veteran of law enforcement. Cmdr Burke also is the current president of the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators. For information, he can be reached by e-mail at , via the Web site www.rxdiversion.com, or by phone at 513-336-0070.
Sgt Lisa McElhaney of the Broward
County Sheriff's office in Florida
recently made one of her ideas
a reality in her home state. This idea
addresses
a key drug diversion problem
that is affecting our youth and making prescription
drug abuse one of the main substance
problems with our teenagers. Her
idea takes a positive step with the community
and industry in reducing
unused
prescription drugs in our nation's medicine
cabinets. In fact, it is appropriately
called "Operation Medicine Cabinet."
The Broward County Sheriff's office, in
conjunction with the United Way of Broward
County Commission on Substance
Abuse, solicited several retail pharmacy
chains to accomplish a voluntary prescription
drug return to sheriff's deputies
at 5 strategic community locations
throughout the county. CVS, Walgreens,
and Wal-Mart all participated in this landmark
operation, supplying $5 gift certificates
to anyone dropping off the unused
pharmaceuticals to law enforcement.
Because of Drug Enforcement Administration
regulations, this kind of operation
would normally be difficult, if not
illegal. The drugs were turned in to law
enforcement
officers with no questions
asked, however, and were processed as
abandoned property. The pharmaceuticals
were sealed and marked as any
other property turned over to the Broward
County Sheriff's office, destined for
proper destruction, and gone from southern
Florida medicine cabinets and no
longer available for abuse and diversion.
This operation has been so successful
that additional operations are already
being planned—perhaps every other
month. This also has spurred bordering
communities to contact Sgt McElhaney
to find out how they could bring this
same program to their backyards.
If you have been reading my articles
over the past 2 months, you already
know that our youth have learned that
one of their most lucrative supplies of
drugs is quite possibly found in their own
medicine cabinets. In addition, other
invited guests to our homes—friends,
relatives, delivery drivers, carpet layers,
painters, and a host of others too numerous
to mention—may rifle our medicine
cabinets to feed addictions and/or make
a profit.
The other important part of this very
positive story is that Sgt McElhaney did
not try to do this alone. She reached
out to the community and to the private
industry
in order to ensure success.
The United
Way and CVS, Walgreens,
and Wal-Mart pharmacies were the perfect
partners for the Broward County
Sheriff's office to collaborate with in this
groundbreaking effort.
Law enforcement prevention efforts
are oftentimes very difficult to measure,
and this one is likely no different. I do not
think it is much of a stretch, however, to
say that Operation Medicine Cabinet can
very likely impact a number of households
in reducing the abuse of prescription
drugs and can possibly save a life or
2 in the process.
So what did we all learn here? Sometimes
the simplest ideas can have the
largest impact on a real problem in
America.
Sgt McElhaney, the United
Way, CVS, Walgreens, and Wal-Mart
all joined together
to make it happen.
They should all be given the recognition
they deserve, and this should be a challenge
to counties and neighborhoods
across the United States to attempt their
own Operation Medicine Cabinet and
maybe save a life in the process.
Inside the Issue
