Making an immediate difference in Tyler, TX

tl;dr. Here is the shortest version: I'm asking for tax-deductible donations to buy an incinerator for local law enforcement so we can keep doing prescription-drug-take-back events in Tyler. GoFundMe HERE.

To me, one of the craziest things about ending up working in youth drug prevention is the scope of the work I get to try to do. You have to take a huge, big-picture view of things, or else you will feel discouraged and give up. I mean, the whole "War on Drugs" was declared by President Nixon in 1971, a full year before I was born, and here we are 43 years later still trying to impact things in some meaningful way.

The thing is, if I didn't believe that there are things we can to to make Tyler a better place to live, I would work in some other field. But there are things we can do, right now, that can potentially protect kids and make Tyler safer, drug-wise.

Prescription Drug Abuse is a Growing Problem

The CDC has declared Prescription Drug Abuse an epidemic, especially thanks to increases in prescribing opioidpain relievers – drugs like oxycodone, hydrocodone, methadone and fentanyl – which are driving the dramatic increase in overdose deaths over the last decade.  Opioid pain reliever overdose deaths have quadrupled since 1999. Inadvertent overdose has by surpassed automobile accidents to become the leading cause of injury death in the country. Often, people become hooked on Prescription pain relievers only to move to street Heroin once their prescriptions are finally nixed. This is a real problem, partly caused by the systems we have in place; I have heard of local doctors bypassing new prescription rules, which were put in place to attempt to curb abuse, by prescribing Tylenol with codeine instead of pure opiods. Medical professionals bypassing rules is one reason so many opioids are on the streets in the first place.

Prescription Drugs in the Home

How can having extra Prescription drugs lying about be a problem? Directly, children and thieves have easier access to drugs that are not actively being taken. Poison Control lists 286 calls regarding overdoses of cold medicines, and 464 regarding painkillers between 2009 and 2012, and I personally know of two cases where elderly people's medicine cabinets have been robbed of old painkillers. What's worse, I have known three individuals who have passed away from accidental overdoses of painkillers; these were intelligent, capable people, and in two cases the pills were prescribed to the users, but that's how dangerous opioids can be.

DEA Prescription Drug Take-back Events

Since 2010, the Drug Enforcement Agency has sponsored biannual Prescription Drug Take-back events in communities all over the US. Originally, DEA Agents would be present with local law enforcement in the Spring and Fall and collect voluntary citizen donations. They would then send the drugs to incinerators (Tyler drugs went to Dallas) and dispose of them. This was a costly effort, taking both time and money, but it was thought to have made a difference, and served to educate citizens as well as to remove substances from the streets. After holding events twice each year for four years, the DEA held their final event this past September 27th, citing budgetary reasons. Their hope is, now, that local law enforcement will take over serving communities with events.

I get the need. So, what can I do?

Local law enforcement wants to keep taking in prescription drugs, but this kind of purchase simply isn't in their budgets, and paying for outside incineration is ultimately cost-prohibitive. The East Texas Substance Abuse Coalition  is hoping that the Greater Tyler, Texas community will respond to this need by joining together to purchase a Drug Terminator, a portable, small-batch drug incinerator, for local law enforcement. 

Police incineration is the safest, most effective way for leftover drugs to be disposed of (flushing pills down the toilet further endangers the community by mucking up the water supply). I will launch a GoFundMe campaign and ask that Tylerites join with me in raising money to get this tool for law enforcement--if we can make this purchase happen, we can keep having these events, well into the future. Any tax-deductible gift you can spare will continue to help this community, year after year. If you can help in this effort, visit our GoFundMe Campaign page, and share it, if you will.

And if this fundraising works in Tyler, I will go into Henderson and Jacksonville, Athens, and Canton and see if their law enforcement is as keen to keep things going as Tyler's is, and we will do it all again, there.

Thank you!