CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – The Clarksville Police Department (CPD) held a meeting Friday morning to discuss a plan that will help combat the abuse of prescription drugs and opioids in the community.
Police said that in 2016, seven deaths in the city of Clarksville were attributed to accidental overdose. The drugs involved in these deaths were codeine, oxycodone, morphine/oxycodone, hydrocodone/diazepam, and ambien.
STATISTICS AND MONITORING
According to recent data from the Tennessean, the state of Tennessee is ranked among the top two states in pain killer prescription rates. Research shows that health care professionals in Tennessee in 2015 wrote more than 7.8 million opioid prescriptions. This equals about 1.18 prescriptions for every man, woman, and child in the state.
“This kind of crime [opioid abuse] is not exclusive to Clarksville. It’s nationwide, it’s statewide. Clarksville has its issues. We’ve had several deaths related to opioids this year and we’re trying to combat that,” CPD Captain Craig Gipson said.
What we’re trying to do is change the culture and the public’s perception of pills. They have to be handled carefully, you’ve got to lock those up, you’ve got to drop them off in our drop boxes if you’re not using them, and just get them off the streets.”
The Tennessee Prescription Safety Act of 2016, signed by Governor Haslam, represented an effort by the state to address subscription drug abuse.
In addition, a 2002 act established a database to monitor the dispensing of Schedule II, 111, IV, and IV controlled substances. Data collection for all dispensers began in 2006 and the 2016 act provides further enhancements.
Part of the act states that all healthcare practitioners who prescribe or dispense these drugs to patients on more than 15 days in a calendar year will be registered in the monitoring database.
Pharmacies must also report to the database daily.
CRIME
Clarksville police said prescription pills were involved in several criminal acts in 2016. They are as follows:
42 residential burglaries
20 vehicle burglaries
57 thefts from a home (Visitors who steal unsecured meds)
3 pharmacy robberies (All resulted in arrests)
3 pharmacy burglaries and 1 attempt (One case resulted in arrest)
EDUCATION
CPD hopes to educate the force and the public about the proper disposal of these medications and how to avoid theft.
They have teamed up with the “Count it, Lock it, Drop it” program and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Office of Sustainable Practices to get the word out on the dangers of prescription drug abuse and provide a location to safely drop off old or unused medications.
These drop boxes are located throughout the city.
ENFORCEMENT
Cracking down on prescription drug abuse poses a different set of problems for police because these drugs are legal. Police are utilizing informants, both buyers and sellers, to help them get to the root of the problem.
Conventional enforcement techniques, like the use of K-9s, do not work well when dealing with these drugs because dogs typically cannot detect them. Police said the most effective enforcement techniques include reasonable suspicion and probable cause stops, consent searches, and voluntary contacts.
CHANGE THE CULTURE
Police hope to change the public perception of these pills in order to emphasize their potential dangers.
Authorities believe the following steps will help this cultural shift:
• More aggressive prosecution by District Attorneys Office for pill-related offenses
• Change in felony classification
• Stiffer penalties for pill offenses
• Cultivate informants assist with search warrants
For information about addiction and treatment related to opioids, visit the Addiction to Sobriety website.