3/15 – County Sheriff Warns Resident to 'Lock Your Meds'

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By John Burton
RED BANK – Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden took his message of “Lock Your Meds” to the Red Bank Senior Center this week, offering advise on how to protect personal medication and family members.
Lock Your Meds is a prescription drug-safety program, with Golden providing information to an audience of 25 at the 80 Shrewsbury Ave. center, according to Cynthia Scott, public information officer for the sheriff’s department.
“Educating adults on how to properly safeguard prescription drugs can help reduce the prescription drugs that are readily available to our children,” Golden said in a released statement. “That’s vital since prescription drugs are considered a gateway drug to other dangerous and serious street drugs.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said deaths from drug overdose have risen steadily over the past two decades and are now the leading cause of injury death in the U.S.
In 2012, the most recent year with available information, there were 88 deaths reported from drug-related overdoses in Monmouth County. Of those, 65 had prescription over over-the-counter drugs listed as the cause of death, according to Scott.
To allow for the safe disposal of unused prescription medication, the sheriff’s department will be participating in this year’s National Take Back Initiative, where members of the public can drop off the medication, in pill or liquid form. That will occur from 10 a.m. to 2 p..m. Saturday, April 26, at the sheriff’s office, 50 Main St. Freehold.
The sheriff’s office has a permanent collection site, located in the office’s rear entrance, available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.