sandoval and lock boxes rsYouth Substance Abuse Coalition coordinator, A.J. Sandoval sits at the HMS Silver City Senior Center with the complimentary lock boxes distributed to seniors who took a pledge to secure their medications.Silver City, NM – Grant County is a little bit safer than it was last week thanks to the effort of area seniors who took a pledge to better secure their prescription medications. To aid in their endeavor, the seniors received a complimentary medication lock box from the Youth Substance Abuse Coalition (YSAPC).

Over 70 seniors from Hidalgo Medical Services' Santa Clara and Silver City Senior Centers took the YSAPC pledge to keep their medications in secure lock boxes.
 
YSAPC Coordinator, A.J. Sandoval said, "We are tasked with informing the community of the dangers of unsecured medications. Prescription drugs can fall into the wrong hands, especially those of children and youth."
 
Two-thirds of teens who misused pain relievers in the past year say that they got them from family and friends, including their home's medicine cabinets, making it important to safeguard medicine in the home, according to the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids. Safe storage and disposal of medications diminish opportunities for easy access.
 
"Kids are home alone for the summer, or visiting relatives," Sandoval said, "and might have access to medications they usually don't. It's important to secure medications to protect children and youth from accidental poisonings, or worse, unintentional overdoses."

In 2017, New Mexico Poison Control received 260 calls from Grant County. Exactly 50% of those calls were regarding children and youth under the age of 20 years old.
 
Also, Grant County ranks fifth of 33 counties in the state for opioid overdose related emergency room visits, at a rate of 101.5 per 100,000 population. By comparison, the New Mexico average rate for opioid overdose ER visits is 66.9. Also, a majority of overdose deaths in Grant County involved prescription drugs, according to the New Mexico Substance Abuse Epidemiology Profile.
 
"People have pills prescribed from surgeries or dental procedures," said Sandoval, "it's important to dispose of unused medication as soon as possible to keep our community safe from misuse and abuse." There are two locations in Grant County to safely dispose of prescription and over the counter mediations at https://tramadult.com no cost: Bayard, 801 Central Ave., and Silver City, 1106 N. Pope St.
 
YSAPC Prevention Clerk, Diana Gordillo said, "We heard stories from the seniors about having medications in drawers or on the kitchen counter, and many were expecting visits from their grandchildren in the coming weeks. Most of the seniors were grateful for the lock boxes for added security and peace of mind for their family's safety."
 
"One man told us how he kept his medications in an ice chest for easy carrying and because it offered some added security. We were able to get him a large lock box that would fit all his medications," reported Sandoval.
 
Other seniors reported they would use the lock boxes while traveling to visit relatives, so their medications were safe from being accessed or tampered with by children.
 
Sandoval added, "We will follow up periodically with everyone that took the pledge to assure the lock boxes are in use."
 
In the coming months, YSAPC will distribute lock boxes at the Hidalgo Medical Services' Cliff/Gila and Mimbres Senior Centers. Sandoval said, "Hidalgo Medical Services has been a great partner and supporter of our efforts to promote safe storage and disposal of medications."
 
Gordillo added, "We still have a few lock boxes available, so people can call our office to make an appointment to take the pledge to keep their prescriptions secure."
 
YSAPC is a program of the Southwest Center for Health Innovation and funded by the New Mexico Office of Substance Abuse Prevention.

For more information on YSAPC contact (575) 597-0025 or email: asandoval@swchi.org.
 
About the Southwest Center for Health Innovation (GENERAL ORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION)
The Southwest Center for Health Innovation (CHI) is a nonprofit focused on bettering community health in underserved and underrepresented populations. CHI empowers groups and individuals at a local, state and national level to determine the future wellbeing of their communities through the development and implementation of innovative policies, strategies and evidence-based models. Founded in 2015, CHI is headquartered in Silver City, with additional offices located throughout New Mexico. For more information, visit www.swchi.org.

Content on the Beat

WARNING: All articles and photos with a byline or photo credit are copyrighted to the author or photographer. You may not use any information found within the articles without asking permission AND giving attribution to the source. Photos can be requested and may incur a nominal fee for use personally or commercially.

Disclaimer: If you find errors in articles not written by the Beat team but sent to us from other content providers, please contact the writer, not the Beat. For example, obituaries are always provided by the funeral home or a family member. We can fix errors, but please give details on where the error is so we can find it. News releases from government and non-profit entities are posted generally without change, except for legal notices, which incur a small charge.

NOTE: If an article does not have a byline, it was written by someone not affiliated with the Beat and then sent to the Beat for posting.

Images: We have received complaints about large images blocking parts of other articles. If you encounter this problem, click on the title of the article you want to read and it will take you to that article's page, which shows only that article without any intruders. 

New Columnists: The Beat continues to bring you new columnists. And check out the old faithfuls who continue to provide content.

Newsletter: If you opt in to the Join GCB Three Times Weekly Updates option above this to the right, you will be subscribed to email notifications with links to recently posted articles.

Submitting to the Beat

Those new to providing news releases to the Beat are asked to please check out submission guidelines at https://www.grantcountybeat.com/about/submissions. They are for your information to make life easier on the readers, as well as for the editor.

Advertising: Don't forget to tell advertisers that you saw their ads on the Beat.

Classifieds: We have changed Classifieds to a simpler option. Check periodically to see if any new ones have popped up. Send your information to editor@grantcountybeat.com and we will post it as soon as we can. Instructions and prices are on the page.

Editor's Notes

It has come to this editor's attention that people are sending information to the Grant County Beat Facebook page. Please be aware that the editor does not regularly monitor the page. If you have items you want to send to the editor, please send them to editor@grantcountybeat.com. Thanks!

Here for YOU: Consider the Beat your DAILY newspaper for up-to-date information about Grant County. It's at your fingertips! One Click to Local News. Thanks for your support for and your readership of Grant County's online news source—www.grantcountybeat.com

Feel free to notify editor@grantcountybeat.com if you notice any technical problems on the site. Your convenience is my desire for the Beat.  The Beat totally appreciates its readers and subscribers!  

Compliance: Because you are an esteemed member of The Grant County Beat readership, be assured that we at the Beat continue to do everything we can to be in full compliance with GDPR and pertinent US law, so that the information you have chosen to give to us cannot be compromised.