Warren Rivera, Assistant Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration office in New Orleans, is shown with Capt. Pat Childress, adter dropping by the drug take-back event in Chalmette on April 26.
Several residents of St. Bernard Parish and New Orleans said they were glad to hear the Sheriff’s Office was collecting expired and no longer used drugs at its Paris Road station on Saturday, April 26, because they hadn’t known how to turn in such drugs they had.
“I’d been waiting for this to get rid of some things” and saw in the media that the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office was collecting them, said Donnetta Smith of New Orleans. Several people also said they knew not to dump prescription pills in the toilet because it could get into disposed water and harm wildlife or seafood in the swamps and not to throw it in the trash where people could find the drugs.
The four-hour take-back event was successful, with 49 pounds of mostly prescription drugs collected, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.
“That is 49 pounds of drugs that could be easily abused that will never hit our streets and will be incinerated,’’ the sheriff said.
Capt. Pat Childress, who is assigned by the Sheriff’s Office to a federal Drug Enforcement Administration task force, collected the surrendered items.
The drug take-back day, sponsored nationally by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, has helped keep prescription drugs off the street, the sheriff said, which is important because studies show young people often first abuse prescription drugs after stealing them from medicine chests at the homes of relatives or parents of friends.
Warren Rivera, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the New Orleans field office of the DEA, dropped by the Chalmette take-back event.
The Sheriff’s Office has participated for several years in the national drug take-back day and locally it was the Sheriff’s Office that began its own take-back day in 2009 called “Operation Medicine Cabinet,’’ which encouraged residents to clean out their medicine cabinets of old prescription drugs and turn them in to the department.
St. Bernard residents are reminded they should call the sheriff’s 271-DOPE hot line (271-3673) any time to turn in prescription drugs between official drug take-back days. A Narcotics Unit agent will call them back to make arrangements.
Also, residents should call the same number to anonymously report any suspected illegal drug activity. All calls will be acted upon.
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