Clay County Assists Macon in Anti-Drug Efforts

The Clay County Anti-Drug Coalition is helping their neighbors in Macon County by providing a drug drop-off location in Lafayette.

Executive Director Jamie Colson says the new drop-off location will help keep additional drugs from being dispersed into the community.

“I assisted the [Lafayette] Police Department in getting one and then I helped register them with the Count It, Lock It, Drop It program,” Colson says, “so they can get free materials to dispassionate, which gets the word out in the community about disposing their medications, the importance of disposing them, and where you can go take your medications for disposal.”

Colson says keeping prescription medication and other drugs locked away in lock boxes or disposing of them properly can help keep them out of the wrong hands.

“Sometimes children get a hold of them and sometimes, we’ve had people who live in low-income housing or various places where… it’s been broken into and their medication’s been stolen,” Colson says. “[A lock box] helps keep them in a safe location, and our boxes can be bolted down so it’s not as easy to take off with them.”

Colson says areas like Clay and Macon Counties often face challenges in the fight against prescription drug abuse due to lack of resources

“It’s harder for smaller counties who don’t have as much income in regards to law enforcement,” Colson says. “I do know this is an issue in our law enforcement and it’s not the sheriff’s fault or the [police] chief’s fault, but our police officers are one of the lowest paid around. That’s certainly an issue.”

The new drop-off location at LPD is only the second in the county with the other located at the Macon County Sheriff’s Office. Colson stated that the Smith County Anti-Drug Coalition also assisted in the efforts.