WCU police to launch Operation Medicine Drop

This article features an event that occurred in the past.

Western Carolina University’s Police Department is set to launch Operation Medicine Drop from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 16, on the second floor of A.K. Hinds University Center.

Operation Medicine Drop is a program sponsored by Safe Kids North Carolina that allows people to clean out their medicine cabinets by bringing unused and unwanted pills to police officers who will destroy the medicine and keep it out of the hands of children and drug addicts in the surrounding area.

The mission for Operation Medicine Drop is to reduce and prevent accidental childhood injuries from birth through age 14.

“Many significant problems are associated with unused and expired drugs in the home. Drugs often are left unsecured in cabinets and on counters,” said Robbie Carter, officer with the WCU Police Department. “Improper use of drugs may cause an overdose and drug interactions. Accidental poisoning from ingestion of drugs among children and pets often occurs in homes where medicine is easily accessible.”

Poisonings from prescription medications are on the rise in North Carolina. “Since 1999, more than 75 percent of all unintentional poisonings were caused by prescription or over-the-counter medications,” said Carter.

Attorney General Roy Cooper asked that the program set up a location for faculty, staff, students, and community members to drop off medicine at WCU.

For more information about Operation Medicine Drop, contact the WCU Police Department at 828-227-7201.