Every month this year the Benton Police Department will have a different initiative that we will call attention to in relation to a public safety issue. The month of April will be ‘Anti-Drug April’ where we will focus on different enforcement and education activities to raise awareness about the damage drugs can cause in our community.
During the month we will be focusing strongly on efforts to serve outstanding warrants on those with felony drug charges. We will be taking additional enforcement efforts against those who deal and traffic illegal narcotics in our community, and who are all too often the root cause of violent crimes that we deal with day in and day out.
We will be posting anti-drug and drug awareness information on our social media outlets and website. Additionally, we will be conducting drug awareness programs throughout the month at various schools in the city.
One of the big things we have in store for April is the next prescription drug take-back, Operation Medicine Cabinet IX, that we are hosting. The event is being held in conjunction with the National Drug Take-Back on April 26th from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. There will be two drop-off locations for the event at Ferguson’s Furniture parking lot (1200 Ferguson Drive) and at Exceptional Physical Therapy (1202 W. South St.).
Anyone who can’t make the event can always drop off their old meds at our 24/7 drop box located at the police department (114 S. East St.). Also, anyone that takes the time to stop by the event and drop off their old meds will be ‘rewarded’ with a coupon or gift card while supplies last.
Studies and surveys show that teens and young adults abuse the substances they have the easiest access too, which is why we have attempted to place an emphasis the past few years on keeping prescription medications securely stored away. For the combined years of 2010-2011, Arkansas ranked 3rd highest in estimated past-year non-medical use of prescription pain relievers for 12 to 17 year olds and ranked ninth highest for individuals 12 and older (SAMHSA, The NSDUH Report, January, 2013).
Some progress has been made recently in reducing youth prescription abuse rates in Arkansas. Lifetime use is down 4.2% and past thirty day use is down 1.9% since 2009. Also, Arkansas youth Rx abuse rates have dropped in 27 of 30 possible measures in the past three years (DBHS and Pride Surveys, 2012 Arkansas Prevention Needs Assessment, March, 2013).
There is still a lot of work to be done to educate everyone about the dangers associated with drug usage, but there have been some great strides made in recent years. Every division of the department will be tasked with a different aspect during this initiative with the ultimate goal of education and making drug dealers very uncomfortable in our community. It’s our desire with the Anti-Drug April initiative that we will be able to not only take drug pushers off our streets, but also provide the information necessary to help keep our communities safer for our families and children.
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