Prescription Drug Misuse Prevention

May

2023

WLEN Interview with Cradle to Career Director Tim Kelly

Woman’s Voice: This special program is brought to you by the Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition. Guests provide information about upcoming events, resources available, and the many ways to help reduce substance use and promote a healthy Lenawee.

Kathy Williams: This is Kathy Williams and with me on tonight’s program is Tim Kelly. Tim is the chairperson for the Prevention and Education part of Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition. And Tim, we’ve got some big news to share tonight.

Tim Kelly: Yeah, we’d like all the people out there that participated in our annual Drug Take Back Day last Saturday to give themselves a big pat on the back. It was a record haul, so to speak.

Kathy Williams: It was a haul.

Tim Kelly: We… we, took in over 700 pounds of medications. More than we’ve done ever by far actually. I mean, we had one year, three years ago, we had 600 pounds and, and I think we were at 757 pounds for this year.

Kathy Williams: Yes. It’s crazy. You know, we appreciate everyone that came out on Saturday the 22nd. It was out at the ProMedica Charles and Virginia Hickman Hospital. It’s a national event, though. We want to be sure that people understand that. That’s going to happen twice a year, April and October. And it’s run technically by the DEA, is that right?

Tim Kelly: Yeah, yeah. It is a national event, so if you… any place you could go in the country, there’s, every county has one of these events. One’s in April and the other’s in October every year. And yeah, they’re… I’m just so happy that we had so many people attend this one this year.

Kathy Williams: Well, and yeah, they thought about 417 people maybe actually came through. I know the line moved very quickly cause you know, the… to donate you don’t even have to get out of your car. And so, and they had, we ran out of goody bags. We got to make sure that doesn’t happen again.

Tim Kelly: Yeah.

Kathy Williams: But everyone was, genuinely happy to be there and happy to be doing this.

Tim Kelly: Yeah. They, it was really a great job by the, the people from ProMedica and the, the University of Toledo pharmacy students.

Kathy Williams: Yes.

Tim Kelly: Who would let people just drive right up there and they’d take the stuff out of their car for them and, and sort it out and dispose of it all. So…

Kathy Williams: And knowing that it’s a secure way also, because they had representatives from the sheriff’s department were there. You know, because some of these are narcotics that are, that are being disposed of. But it’s, it’s all about disposing of things in a better way without going down your toilets or in your landfills or could possibly contaminate our water supplies.

Time Kelly: Yeah, we get, we you know, have learned as a society that we don’t want this stuff in our water. It does show up and it, it can be affecting you know, the quality of water and, and how people’s quality of life is. But you know, the other thing is that, you know, young kids and stuff can get access to things that are probably harmful to them. And some people could take medicine that’s expired and that’s dangerous as well. So there’s a lot of reasons to get this stuff disposed of.

Kathy Williams: Yeah, we talk about that a lot leading up to the events and I’m sure we’ll remind people in October as well that, you know, you shouldn’t save something for the next time I need it.

Tim Kelly: Yeah.

Kathy Williams: Hopefully you have insurance that’ll have cover that next, that next time. But they lose potency. They… you don’t want to mix them up with other drugs that you might be on at the, at the same time. There’s too much that can happen with using more than one medication at a time. Interactions might affect how they work for you.

Tim Kelly: Right. And, and you just don’t know how it’s going to do it. So, I mean, you know, it is nice to think, “Oh, I’ll just save this till later for, for the next time I have a headache or whatever.” And you may be on a different set of medicines…

Kathy Williams: Right.

Tim Kelly: You know, between then and now and, and that could have a really adverse effect for you.

Kathy Williams: Exactly. So, you know, personally, I have a hard, I have a hard time imagining 509 pounds of tablets and capsules. I mean that “oral solids” they called it. But 509 pounds of little teeny pills. It’s just… blows your mind.

Tim Kelly: Yeah, that’s a lot of little teeny pills. Yeah. Yeah.

Kathy Williams: I know, I know. Liquids and that included… Well, let’s see. They had liquids, which, so cough, syrups, all that kind of stuff.

Tim Kelly: Yep. That type of stuff.

Kathy Williams: Medication, 228 pounds. Even topical, oh that was…

Tim Kelly: Yeah.

Kathy Williams: And including topicals. But then also inhalers, 19 pounds of inhalers. Wow

Tim Kelly: Wow. Yeah. You think of those little inhalers

Kathy Williams: Yeah.

Tim Kelly: And you got 19 pounds of them.

Kathy Williams: Well, and that was one of the things that we talked about ahead of time too, is that a lot of times inhalers and creams and topical ointments, you never get all of it out of there.

Tim Kelly: Yeah.

Kathy Williams: You know, it’s like the toothpaste bottle. You just can’t get it all out. And so those are a good example of just – put it aside, put it in a safe place and bring it to us in October.

Tim Kelly: Yep, yep. Yeah. Say “hang onto those and bring them in in October”. The other, the other number that every time is shocking to me is the, the amount of sharps, the number of syringes and stuff that’s brought back to us.

Kathy Williams: Yes.

Tim Kelly: And, although it wasn’t more this time, it was 9 38 gallon containers

Kathy Williams: Yeah.

Tim Kelly: Of sharps.

Kathy Williams: Hard to hardly, to even visualize.

Tim Kelly: Yeah, it is.

Kathy Williams: So, we’ll have to see if we can get a picture next year of the final hurrah…

Tim Kelly: Yeah.

Kathy Williams: When it, you know, they’ve got it already packed in a car or something to help that really sink in. So, you know, if you want to find more out, more about the Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition, you can go to Drug Prevention Lenawee online. And, you know, learn lots of ways to help keep drugs off our streets and keep them out of the hands of people that shouldn’t have them.

Tim Kelly: Yep. And look for us again in October for the next one.

Kathy Williams: Exactly. Thanks, Tim.

Tim Kelly: Yep. Thank you.

Woman’s Voice: The Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition supported by funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration. Thank you for listening. New messages air on the second and fourth Monday each month at 6:15 PM. You can listen to this program as a podcast under the “on air audio” tab on WLEN.com and get more information at DrugPreventionLenawee.com.

Nov

2022

WLEN Interview with Cradle to Career Director Tim Kelly

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Kathy Williams: This is Kathy Williams and with me on tonight’s program is Tim Kelly. And Tim and I are going to be talking about the results of the Drug Take-Back event that just happened a couple weeks ago, Tim.

Tim Kelly: Yeah. Out at Hickman Hospital, we had a 10:00 to 2:00 event, and had a number of people dropping stuff off to get rid of their old medicines.

Kathy Williams: Yep. You know, it was interesting that, let’s see, we started this a year ago. We had a April, October last year. We had a April this year, and now the October 30th this year for drug take-backs. And it, the amount of donations at all of them has really been eye opening.

Tim Kelly: Yeah. Yeah. It’s amazing to think that in one day, you can get over or close to 300 pounds of medication dropped off in just that short period of time.

Kathy Williams: So I think the word is finally getting out about safe disposal and getting these out of harm’s way basically because we are seeing more and more statistics that say that family members and, you know, possibly just acquaintances are misusing other people’s medications.

Tim Kelly: Yeah. I think that’s one of the biggest messages is that you know, kids are exposed or have the opportunity by going to somebody else’s medicine cabinet or drawer in a house someplace and obtaining these medicines that have been recognized as leading to people with addictions. So…

Kathy Williams: Yes.

Tim Kelly: So that’s really been the message for the last few years and it seems to be working.

Kathy Williams: Yeah, I think so too. And I know, you know, it’s been a tough message to get out there. People were used to just throwing things away in the trash cans or flushing them down the toilets, you know, and things like that. And, you know, getting them to say it’s just a little out of your way, maybe to do some storage or drop them off quicker at the different locations, pharmacies and such. But the drug take back events really brought this all to the surface better.

Tim Kelly: Yeah. Yeah. You mentioned it’s been the last couple years and that you know, obviously after COVID we weren’t doing much until then, but after COVID we had our first one and we had 471 pounds worth of things returned at that time.

Kathy Williams: Right.

Tim Kelly: And it’s, the number’s actually gone down a little bit each year since then, or each event since then. But I look at that as being a good thing. Just like you mentioned, the word is getting out there and people are taking stuff in throughout the year. As they recognize it, looks like they’re taking it to their local law enforcement agency or to the pharmacy and dropping things off. So it’s about messaging, but yeah, we like to have the big numbers of, you know, like this year we had 293 pounds worth of medications dropped off on that one day.

Kathy Williams: Yeah.

Tim Kelly: So it’s good in both regards, you know. We’re getting the message out and they’re taking it to the pharmacies, the hospital or to the local law enforcement, but there is that opportunity in April and October every year moving forward, we’ll be having one.

Kathy Williams: Exactly. It also, I think, is an opportunity to encourage people to learn more about drug abuse and the potential dangers that are involved in all of it.

Tim Kelly: Yeah. People need to understand that these are harmful medications. If you’re not prescribed them and you get access to them, they can interact with other meds people are on. So… and they become, when they are expired, they can become dangerous to somebody.

Kathy Williams: Right, right. Well, and because your medications change, maybe the new one you’re on, you shouldn’t be taking that old one you were on because the complications that can, you know, drug interaction complications. Tim Kelly: Yeah, and I know as you get older sometimes you can get confused about those things. So if you have a family member that’s a little bit older and maybe, you know, might have a series of medications…

Kathy Williams: Cognitive problems.

Tim Kelly: Yeah, if they’re not really clear on what they should be taking, it’s best just to get that stuff that’s old and counteractive to some other medication out of their house.

Kathy Williams: Yeah. Yep. Get it out of there. So, Tim, we talk about that they can go to DrugPreventionLenawee.com of course, and get additional information. A lot’s with the Lenawee Community Mental Health Authority, the Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition, of course, they’re, you know, big time involved in this.

Tim Kelly: Yeah. If you go to DrugFreeLenawee, that’s the website, just type in “Drug Free Lenawee”, you’ll find a list of all the places they can take certain medications, either it be pills or liquids, or even sharps, which is the needles that we seem to be getting a lot of those and that’s a good thing we get them out of there cuz they can be dangerous to have around. But yeah, if you go to those websites, they can pretty much tell you just about any place to take them to throughout the year.

Kathy Williams: There you go. Throughout the year. And if you do decide you want to find out more, definitely go to that website. There are some different things like Deterra bags that help with dissolving things, and I believe all the locations, a lot of the drop off locations are listed on there.

Tim Kelly: Yeah. Yep. Yep.

Kathy Williams: So, Tim, approximately 125 people, 293 pounds of goodies. So the lower participation, lots more product.

Tim Kelly: Yeah.

Kathy Williams: So we are getting that message out there.

Tim Kelly: Yep. I need to take a second just to thank all the people that helped with this because…

Kathy Williams: Sure.

Tim Kelly: You know, those pharmacy students that come up here from the University of Toledo, they work all day long sorting those meds and making sure they’re disposed of correctly. Our sheriff’s office, who has two deputies there, so they participate in it. We have a number of people like Hospice that puts together the goodie bags that we gave out. Let’s see, McDonald’s, it gives us things for those goodie bags and, you know, the Health Department and some of our local partners around the Veterans Administration. Matt Raad did a great job in providing us things and participating in this work. So we just want to say thanks to them for everything they’ve done.

Kathy Williams: Yeah. It just comes back to that it takes a village.

Tim Kelly: Yeah. It has been really rewarding to see how many people help out to get this done.

Kathy Williams: Exactly. Exactly. Well, thanks for all you do, Tim. We really appreciate you as well.

Tim Kelly: Oh, thank you.

Oct

2022

WLEN Interview with ProMedica CVH Hospital Lead Pharmacy Technician Jessica Dixon

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Kathy Williams: This is Kathy Williams and with me on tonight’s program is Jessica Dixon, and Jessica is with ProMedica Hospital. She is the lead pharmacy technician, and Jessica and I are going to talk about the upcoming Drug Take-Back event, which is happening on Saturday, October 29th.

Jessica Dixon: That’s right.

Kathy Williams: Yeah. Jessica, you’ve been involved in these Drug Take-Backs for quite a few years now.

Jessica Dixon: For a lot of years. Yeah, about 15 years I believe.

Kathy Williams: Now we were always surprised at the different kinds of medications that come into the Drug Take-Back event. Can you help our listeners understand better? What is acceptable?

Jessica Dixon: We take just about every medication that you have. Medications that are aerosol in aerosol containers, oral tablets, we take liquids, injectables, pet medications… we can take all of those.

Kathy Williams: Yeah, and even salves.

Jessica Dixon: Yes. The lotions, the creams, all of those. We will take those. We also are offering the sharps collection as well.

Kathy Williams: Yes.

Jessica Dixon: And so any needles you have, we can dispose of those.

Kathy Williams: The biggest thing though that we want to help our listeners understand too, is they can bring things in the original containers. They just, it’s nice if they wipe out their personal information, but you know, if they forget to do that, we’re going to do that at the take back event.

Jessica Dixon: Absolutely. Yep. Original containers are fine. We’re going to black off anything that doesn’t need to be seen, any of your personal information, but absolutely.

Kathy Williams: And then I love the fact that you have volunteers then that are helping you with sorting. Can you tell us a little about that?

Jessica Dixon: We have volunteers from the University of Toledo. They are pharmacy students. So they come in, we get about six of them every time we have this. And they will sort the products into the categories they go into and they get, you know, they get credit for credit hours, but they really enjoy coming and visiting with the community and being there for us.

Kathy Williams: Well, and the other thing that’s great too is that they, of course, they are, getting some knowledge on different products while they’re there, but then we also have great security guards that are watching to make sure nothing crazy is happening here.

Jessica Dixon: Absolutely. Our security there is present. We have Sheriff’s Deputy there as well, so it’s a very, very safe environment for this to take place.

Kathy Williams: So at the Drug Take-Back event itself again is Saturday the 29th, and it’s from 10 o’clock till two o’clock. This is a hard stop. Two o’clock.

Jessica Dixon: Two o’clock, we are done. We are collecting our signs and packing up for the day.

Kathy Williams: Yeah, it’s kind of a regulation type thing.

Jessica Dixon: It is.

Kathy Williams: Because this is being done nationwide, correct?

Jessica Dixon: Correct, yes.

Kathy Williams: All over the place through the, is it…

Jessica Dixon: DEA.

Kathy Williams: The DEA. Is it Drug Enforcement…?

Jessica Dixon: Yep. Drug Enforcement Agency.

Kathy Williams: I’m like, I know it’s not environmental, so gotta get your acronyms correct.

Jessica Dixon: Yes.

Kathy Williams: Jessica, we also will take, you know, vitamins and things like that that are expired.

Jessica Dixon: Absolutely. Over the counter meds. Not only the prescription medications, but all over the counter medications, vitamins, supplements.

Kathy Williams: Yeah, we talked before, I don’t know how many times, you know, you’ve bought some kind of extra diet thing that’s going to miracle make you lose 20 pounds in 19 days and then you found out it didn’t work and you have half a bottle left and you’re like, what do I do with it?

Jessica Dixon: Yeah. We will gladly take it off your hands.

Kathy Williams: Exactly. And that all counts toward, you know, the end results of not putting it in the trash. Not flushing it down the toilet.

Jessica Dixon: Right.

Kathy Williams: And then, because you know, this is part of the Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition, we want to get drugs out of the way so that they’re not misused.

Jessica Dixon: Absolutely. And we provide that safe, convenient way to do it. We contract with a company that comes in and removes the medications and they incinerate it to make the meds un-retrievable.

Kathy Williams: Yes. And at the same time, you’ll also help dispose of the original packaging too, so that none of that’s, you know, laying around or accidentally available to anyone.

Jessica Dixon: Right. Yep. All private information is blacked out and disposed of all that trash.

Kathy Williams: Exactly. So, we want to of course, encourage people, you know, start looking now. This program’s of course, on October 24th, on a Monday, but you have all week to go looking for your products.

Jessica Dixon: Yes.

Kathy Williams: It’s amazing how many different places people stick stuff and then forget it’s there. And so this is a perfect time to go through those drawers and find “Oh yeah. I probably shouldn’t have those eardrops anymore.”

Jessica Dixon: Oh, right. Your medicine cabinet. Your little drawer at your desk. You know.

Kathy Williams: Yeah.

Jessica Dixon: It’s always little, little places that we leave things.

Kathy Williams: So everything is going to be, oh, there’s going to be new signage this year, I understand, in front of the ProMedica Hickman hospital that’s going to actually say “Drug Take-Back event”. And it’s going to have arrows pointing you to where everything is happening. It’s along the side of the emergency room, but back behind the hospital.

Jessica Dixon: Yep. Behind the, if you drive in closer to the emergency room, you will get it and follow your, follow the signs. They should be pointing you to the way.

Kathy Williams: Yeah.

Jessica Dixon: And we’ll be right behind the hospital.

Kathy Williams: Exactly. Well, we’re excited to have it happen and encourage people you know, if you have neighbors that can’t come, you know, you know, get with your family and friends and just do a big collection and you don’t even have to get out of your car. It’s a drive through event.

Jessica Dixon: It is a drive through. We’ll go right to your window and pick up your items.

Kathy Williams: There you go. Thanks so much, Jessica. We appreciate your being a part of the Drug Take-Back Day and, and everything you do.

Jessica Dixon: Well, thank you. Thanks for having me.

Kathy Williams: You’re welcome.

Oct

2022

WLEN Interview with Cradle to Career Director Tim Kelly

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Kathy Williams: This is Kathy Williams and with me on tonight’s program is Tim Kelly. Tim wears many hats. He is the director of Cradle to Career Partnership. He is also the Social and Emotional Learning Coordinator at LSID, and for tonight we’re going be talking about hat number three. He is the chair of the LSAPC subcommittee, which is Prevention and Education. Tim, thanks for taking time out of your day.

Tim Kelly: It’s great to be here.

Kathy Williams: So, we’re going to talk about the Prevention and Education subcommittee for the LSAPC. So one of the goals is to help educate our community, basically.

Tim Kelly: Yeah. That is the goal, really, isn’t it?

Kathy Williams: Yeah.

Tim Kelly: From school age all the way up to the elderly, we all can learn more about preventing substance abuse and things we can do to dispose of our medications.

Kathy Williams: Yes.

Tim Kelly: That’s really what some of our focus is about.

Kathy Williams: By educating all the different age demographics and people of different walks of life, we’re helping them learn more about different kinds of substance abuse, but also about the different partnerships that we have within the community for necessary help.

Tim Kelly: Yeah. We have, you know, a very diverse group that’s addressing substance abuse. We have people who are in recovery bring a great deal of information and help in addressing it. We have obviously CMH, Parkside, the hospital, ProMedica, also provides support there, as does the ISD and just a number of community partners that, frankly, whenever you just say, “we need a hand with this,” and they step right up and want to address the issue with us.

Kathy Williams: Someone is always there to help no matter, you know, what kind of situation you’re in. So, we want to talk tonight too about the upcoming Drug Take-Back event that’s happening at the end of the month, and we can’t get the word out too early really about that…

Tim Kelly: No.

Kathy Williams: Because we want people to take time to go through their cupboards and drawers and everything and put together their donations.

Tim Kelly: Yeah. We’re, yeah. We need people to get rid of their medications that they’re no longer using, that are expired. You know, it’s a great opportunity on October 29th, between 10:00 and 2:00 PM to come out to ProMedica hospital right around the backside there and drop stuff off. There’ll be signs directing you and picking up something in the way of a little goody bag that will say “thank you” just a little bit for making our community just a little bit safer.

Kathy Williams: Exactly. Used to be back in the day that you’d flush things down the toilet or just throw them in the regular trash. And, you know, they really are trying to be a little bit more environmentally concerned by disposing of things properly. And so twice a year this event happens.

Tim Kelly: Yep, yep. I’ve been involved the last two years, so this is going on my third year, so to speak. And, it’s been a very good turnout. We’ve typically had over 300 people involved and it really is an opportunity to get rid of things, including sharps, I should have mentioned that. Sharps are something that people seem to have a hard time getting rid of, and obviously we don’t want those things in the trash. We don’t want things flushed down toilets because they can… Maybe you’re aware they can check the chemicals in our wastewater treatment and they know what’s out there in our, into our water systems.

Kathy Williams: Right.

Tim Kelly: So, we really need to keep that stuff out of the old ways we used to get rid of it.

Kathy Williams: Exactly. And this is a national event. It’s put on by the Drug Enforcement Administration. And so everything that’s done on Saturday, October 29th atthe Drug Take-Back event, there are precautions being made. The Sheriff’s Department is there present and it’s pretty tight as far as how everything happens that day.

Tim Kelly: Yeah, yeah. There’s a lot of rules and regulations as it requires law enforcement to handle the substances that are disposed of and they, you know, along with some pharmacists from the hospital that help sort them, so that we can kind of tell what’s been disposed of. But yeah, they have a very strict requirements about where things can be disposed of. They have to end at two o’clock. It’s very, very strict.

Kathy Williams: It’s hard and fast. Yes, it is.

Tim Kelly: Yeah. So they, you know, not only on that day, I should mention that they have their red boxes at a number of law enforcement agencies around the county that if you can’t make it on the 29th, you can take them there. And we really need people to take them whenever they can to law enforcement.

Kathy Williams: So Tim, again, we want to remind people that it is Saturday, October 29th. It is at the ProMedica Hickman Hospital. You just follow the signs that say COVID testing, basically to take them around the back and they can get more information about the event and you know, garner some information in general at DrugPreventionLenawee.com. So thanks so much, Tim.

Tim Kelly: Right, thanks Kathy.

Aug

2022

WLEN Interview with Lenawee County Health Department Health Educator Becky Selenko

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Woman’s Voice: The Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition is a diverse group of dedicated community members united around the goal of reducing substance use in Lenawee County. LSAPC members work collaboratively to engage and educate the community in order to promote a healthy Lenawee.

Kathy Williams: This is Kathy Williams and with me on tonight’s program is Becky Selenko. And Becky is a health educator with the Lenawee County Health Department. And we’re going to be talking about medication lock bags. Becky, thanks for joining me for tonight’s program.

Becky Selenko: Thanks for inviting me.

Kathy Williams: So medication lock bags, what are they?

Becky Selenko: So, medication lock bags that we have been giving out are basically like a little like pouch that has a lock on it that can be personally configured, so that, to a combination that you remember, and then you can store your either marijuana or prescription drugs or that type of thing in them to keep them away from kids and pets.

Kathy Williams: I like the fact that it is the combo lock. Not a key I could lose.

Becky Selenko: Correct. Now you just have to remember the combo, right?

Kathy Williams: Yeah. True. Well, it’s only three numbers, right?

Becky Selenko: Yeah.

Kathy Williams: So, Becky, how did you come to be in possession of all these lock bags?

Becky Selenko: So, the Health Department applied for a medical marijuana grant through the State of Michigan. And through those funds that we received, we were able to purchase 2000 of these lock bags.

Kathy Williams: That is a lot, but I’m sure they’re probably going quickly. What should I put inside of them then?

Becky Selenko: Well, they could hold anything really that you want to keep away from kids and pets, whether it be prescription medications, medical, marijuana, recreational marijuana, or even over the counter pills that you’re concerned about. So any of those type of things would be appropriate for the lock bag.

Kathy Williams: So, there’s probably a few opportunities to actually get a lock bag. How can I find one?

Becky Selenko: Absolutely. Through the health department we’ve been going to different outreach events this summer. So we’ve been handing them out there. We also will be at the Day of HOPE that the Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition is sponsoring at the end of August. So, we’re just trying to get out in the community. I’ve also been working with the local marijuana dispensaries to give them out to clients there.

Kathy Williams: Now, that’s great that they’re collaborating with you to help hand out the bags, because it is important sometimes to have what you need where you’re already at. And that’s, we were talking a little bit about that off-air is that, you’re trying to go where there are larger groups of people that will be able to, you know, take advantage of the bags that you have.

Becky Selenko: Exactly. I mean, it’s been a great partnership with those stores, just because, like you said, these are people that are already clients that are going there to purchase it. So if they just can leave with a lock bag and don’t have to think about picking one up, then it, you know, kind of checks that box off of their list.

Kathy Williams: Yeah. Now, if they don’t have a lock bag, though, we do want to remind them about some other places that they can take expired medication.

Becky Selenko: Oh, sure, absolutely. In the county we have red barrels, which are at local police and sheriff departments. There’s the Drug Take-Back Day, which happens twice a year in April and October. There’s also a disposal bin at Meijer pharmacy, as well as ProMedica ER, and then the Substance Abuse Coalition has the Deterra pouches, which safely deactivates the medication so that it can be thrown away in the household trash.

Kathy Williams: One of the biggest reasons that we want to promote the Lock it Up campaign is to hopefully help deter our younger adults and children from getting their hands on things they shouldn’t.

Becky Selenko: Absolutely. In the State of Michigan, they’ve seen an uptick in the number of calls to the Poison Control Center since recreational marijuana became legal in Michigan. So, they really want to get the word out, or we really want to get the word out that if you have, you know, items that may look like food or candy to young children that you want to, you know make sure you keep that locked up so they don’t have access to it.

Kathy Williams: Exactly. Now you do go to different events, you were saying that you’re trying to get to the farmer’s markets even.

Becky Selenko: Yes. I was just at the Adrian Farmer’s Market last, this past weekend and try to get to Tecumseh about once a month, just to kind of hit those areas where people are out and about and engage with the community.

Kathy Williams: Right. Well, I think it’s an important message of course, to get out and, a really nice bag. I mean, it looks like it would do the job.

Becky Selenko: Yeah, absolutely. We’ve been happy with the size of it and also kind of how it works. It’s simple, but it’s also, you know, provides protection, So…

Kathy Williams: Yeah. Very effective. Yeah. Becky, if people are interested in finding out more about the bags or talking to you directly, how can they get ahold of you?

Becky Selenko: Sure they can call me at the Health Department at my phone number is (517) 264-5253.

Kathy Williams: That’s “Becky Selenko” that you’re want to ask for.

Becky Selenko: Correct.

Kathy Williams: And Becky, we also, you and I talked that you would be interested in speaking at some service clubs and other, you know, large gatherings. If people are interested in having you come in as a guest speaker.

Becky Selenko: Sure. That would be, that’d be great. We’re just doing everything we can to kind of get the word out about, you know, lock it up. That’s the safe way to handle your prescription drugs and marijuana.

Kathy Williams: And these are available to anyone in Lenawee County is the other thing we want to make sure our listeners know that it’s not just Adrian and Tecumseh. So, you know, we’re encouraging people, even if they don’t need the bag themselves, if they know someone else who should, then maybe get it for them.

Becky Selenko: Yeah, absolutely. A lot of times grandkids may spend time with their, you know, grandparents who, you know… It’s something to think about for the whole family, not just the adults in the family.

Kathy Williams: Exactly. You know, it might be also helpful for someone who maybe is a caregiver and sometimes you have clients that are possibly overmedicating themselves. This would be a great way to secure those.

Becky Selenko: Yes, absolutely. And the nice part about the bag is that it’s big enough to hold quite a few items, but then it can also be, can also travel too. So that’s another plus of it.

Kathy Williams: Exactly. Well, we want to remind people then they can go to the Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition Facebook page, and also get more information on the website, DrugPreventionLenawee.com. Becky, is there anything else you’d like to add? It’s all about education.

Becky Selenko: It is all about education. You’re right. Just that we’re trying to, you know, keep kids and our pets safe in our community. So, this is just one of the things that we’re trying to do at the Health Department.

Kathy Williams So there you go. Thank you so much.

Becky Selenko: Thank you.

Woman’s Voice: Thank you for listening. This information has been provided by the Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition. Supported by funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration. New messages air on the first and third Monday of each month at 6:15 p.m. You can listen to this program as a podcast under the audio tab on WLEN.com and listen and gather more information at DrugPreventionLenawee.com.