FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 18, 2018
Media Contact: Ashley Mallon The Southwest Council Inc. 856-794-1011 Ext 318 Ashley@southwestcouncil.org
“Account. Secure. Dispose,” one of the newest community initiatives takes aim at the current drug crisis by educating on medication misuse and abuse, and gives participants proper medication storage and disposal tools to deal with unwanted medications.
The SCRATCH Prevention Coalition relays a 3-part message to participants - ACCOUNT, SECURE, and DISPOSE of your unwanted medications, and they even provide each participant with tangible tools to do just that. Ashley Mallon, a prevention specialist at the Southwest Council who trains on the initiative states, “This information is so important for the community to hear. Most of the time, we only hear about how bad the drug problem is in our area, but it isn’t often that people provide a solution after they present you with the problem.”
Unfortunately, prescription medications are abused often and can be just as harmful as illegal street drugs if they are not used correctly. Especially considering the staggering reality that prescription pain killers very often leads to heroin use, contributing to the ongoing epidemic that has come to forefront the last few years.
Mallon reports why she feels so strongly about educating the community through this initiative, “I appreciate that “Account, Secure, Dispose,” not only dives into the current drug problem, but then it offers tangible solutions for accounting of medications through med-trackers and securing them with prescription timer caps which act like a stopwatch whenever the lid is opened, and disposing through Deterra pouches which are environmentally friendly.”
Just the simple act of cleaning out your medicine cabinet can go a long way to protect your family from accumulating a drug problem and can even make your home safer from those who may have a drug problem or even a curious teen living under their parents roof.
To date, the SCRATCH Coalition has served over 475 participants with this educational presentation and is currently seeking more opportunities to disperse this essential information. If you believe that this presentation may benefit your organization, your church, your employees, or even your circle of friends, please contact Ashley Mallon at Ashley@southwestcouncil.org or by phone at 856-794-1011 x318.
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Ashley joined the agency in 2014 and currently serves as the Salem-Cumberland PFS Coordinator. Ashley works closely with community organizations, municipal partners, and families by utilizing environmental strategies and initiatives that will reduce underage drinking and prescription drug abuse.
