MASSENA -- The Massena Prescription Drug Misuse Task Force has compiled a list of projects and goals in hopes of reducing prescription drug abuse in the community.

Massena Police Chief Timmy Currier, watching the problem grow in the St. Lawrence River village, has called for some kind of solution to the problem of prescription drug abuse in Massena and in the broader community.

The task force was formed to address concerns of drug misuse through the development and implementation of a comprehensive, integrated strategy of prevention, education, intervention, law enforcement and treatment.

At a March 14 meeting, the group defined their goals as placing a permanent prescription drop box at the Massena police station; educating the community on how to safeguard prescription drugs and how and where to dispose of them safely; educating the student-age population in cooperation with Massena Central School about the dangers of prescription drug misuse; fostering the implementation and use of the SBIRT screening tool (screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment) by area medical practitioners; and supporting and helping implement the state attorney general’s “I-Stop” legislation.

Current projects chosen by the group include:

• Narcotics Agreement for Patient and Practitioner

Expansion of the use of a “narcotics agreement” already used by some area practitioners to emphasize proper and responsible use of prescription narcotics by reducing “doctor/pharmacy shopping” and providing practitioners with an avenue to address situations where patients are found to be abusing narcotics.

By signing the agreement the patient agrees to use the identified medical provider as the sole source of narcotic prescriptions; identify and use only one pharmacy to fill narcotic prescriptions; allow the practitioner to communicate with other treating practitioners and pharmacists regarding the patient’s use of controlled substances; and the patient agrees that violating any of the terms of the agreement could result in the discontinuation of narcotics prescriptions and, in serious cases, possible discharge of the patient by the practitioner.

• Prescription Routing

Although the state has passed legislation allowing for the electronic transmission of narcotics prescriptions, the rules for implementation have yet to be developed. Therefore practitioners must still use paper prescriptions when prescribing narcotics.

The Task Force is encouraging practitioners to write the name of the pharmacy used by the patient on the prescription so that “pharmacy shopping” by patients abusing narcotics may be addressed.

• Prescription Drug Drop Box

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has held very popular and well utilized Prescription Drug Take Back Days where citizens can take their old or unused prescription drugs and dispose of them properly. The task force is working with the Department of Health, Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, Department of Environmental Conservation and the Division of Criminal Justice Services with the support of the United States Attorney’s Office in Syracuse to place a permanent medication drop box at the Massena Police Department.

This will give citizens a convenient and safe way to dispose of unused and unneeded prescription drugs thereby reducing their availability on our streets.

• Community Education - Safeguarding Prescription Drugs and Proper Disposal

Task Force members are working with various organizations and venues to hold public forums to educate citizens about ways to safeguard their narcotic prescriptions and to properly dispose of them. Public service announcements, brochures and newsletter inserts are being developed to assist in raising community awareness of these efforts.

Task force members are Walgreens pharmacist and manager Amanda Allen; Tracie Barnes, Executive Director of Mental Health Counseling Services of Northern New York; St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center Executive Director Samuel Bastien; St. Lawrence County Workers Compensation/Self Insurance Coordinator Elizabeth Boyd; Rose Hill Director Tina Buckley; St. Lawrence County Chemical Dependency Services Director Leo Burger; Seaway Valley Prevention Council Executive Director Larry Calkins; Rite Aid Pharmacist Patrick Casey; Massena Chief of Police Tim Currier and Police Officer Brian LaBarge; St. Lawrence County Community Services Deputy Director Daniel Dodge; St. Lawrence County District Attorney Nicole Duve; Massena Memorial Hospital Emergency Staff Doctor Toni Eng; Massena Memorial Hospital CEO Charles Fahd; Doctor-Dentist Michael Guldan; St. Lawrence County Probation Department Supervisor Tim LePage; Massena Central School District Head Nurse Sally Manor; Massena Central School District Assistant Principal Rick Norris; St. Regis Mohawk Health Services Pharmacist Thomas Saxby; and St. Lawrence County Sheriff Kevin Wells.

Advisors to the task force are St. Lawrence County Probation Department Director Edward Gauthier; state Office of Alcohol Substance and Abuse Services Deputy Medical Director Charles Morgan; state Office of Mental Health Suicide Prevention Director Melanie Puorto, United States Attorney's Office LE Coordination Manager Armond Scipione; and Gerald Sharlow, Massena Village and Town Court Judge.