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Capeless Launches Rx Lockbox Program To Reduce Stolen Opioids
By Andy McKeever, iBerkshires Staff
01:22AM / Wednesday, December 23, 2015
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John Lutz said Elder Services will distribute the boxes to their clientele.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Nearly 300 area seniors will be given lock boxes to secure their prescription medicines.
 
District Attorney David Capeless announced the new program on Tuesday in which the office purchased 250 boxes to be distributed by Elder Services. The Pittsfield Prevention Partnership, a program through the Berkshire United Way, provided funding to purchase an additional 40 boxes. Capeless said this is just the start of what he envisions to be a growing program to keep opioids out of the hands of abusers.
 
"We realized there was one very practical step to take to limit the flow of prescription pain medications and prevent them from going from helpful pain medications to drugs and abuse," Capeless said of the plan, which he believes is the first of its kind in the state. 
 
Capeless said nationally senior citizens comprise of 13 percent of the population but also consume more than a third of the prescription medications. Meanwhile, 25 percent of all teens have abused prescription drugs at one point with the majority of them getting them from family or friends. 
 
Nancy Stoll, vice president of community impact at the Berkshire United Way, says a survey of teens conducted every year reaffirm that statistic, which is why the Pittsfield Prevention Partnership provided funds for boxes distributed in the city.
 
"We hear they get them from the home medicine cabinet, grandparents, friends. Hopefully we'll see they won't have as much access to that," Stoll said.
 
 Elder Services Executive Director John Lutz said more and more of their clientele is reporting stolen medications.
 
"We had started to see more of our consumers being involved in theft and misplacement of opioid perceptions even to the point of them being replaced and people putting in other things in their prescription and taking the pill. If we are seeing this many of them, then we knew there would be more and more of it," Lutz said. "This is responding to the canary in the coal mine."
 
Lutz said the program is twofold: one it reduces the number of prescription drugs going to the streets and falling into the hands of abusers but also protects seniors from being victims of theft.
 
"We came to David [Capeless] about the concept of trying to reduce the abuse and theft of opioids, he responded immediately and saw the importance of trying to restrict the access and that elders themselves are targets because they often receive more of these than anybody else. Just having them in the house makes them a target for theft and other types of crime," Lutz said.
 
Lutz said the initial 290 boxes will all be distributed to Elder Services clientele and Capeless advocated for others to purchase boxes on their own, adding that some can be as inexpensive as $25.
 
The purchase of the boxes came from a state grant distributed to the District Attorney's Association. But, Capeless says the money hasn't been allocated back to his office yet and he has some fears cuts in state funding could jeopardize the future of the program.
 
"I do have some concerns about our ability to move forward and expand it. But, I made my promise that we will find some way - well, we've already bought the boxes - but we'll find some way to fill the gap," Capeless said.
 
The effort is just the latest from the office to combat what Capeless says is an "overabundance" of opioid medications in the county. He said since 1996 the number of Schedule 2 opioid prescriptions has grown by 7.3 times as of 2011. Since then efforts have been made to reduce that but has only dropped that to 6.7 times the amount since last decade.
 
"During the 12 years of my administration, I've been part of a number of initiatives aimed at attacking and preventing this problem. Our prescription takeback programs have collected tons of unused and unwanted medications making sure they do not hit the streets. I've supported and paid for dropboxes for unused and unwanted prescriptions at police departments across the county," Capeless said.
 
He added that his is supportive of Gov. Charlie Baker's bill to restrict prescriptions to 72-hours worth of a supply for the first one. In a separate interview Tuesday, Baker reiterated his support for the multi-faceted bill adding that its received a lot of support from those in the law enforcement and health care community. 
 
"Philosophically, I think what we are trying to do are the right types of things which is to reduce the way we've used opioid medication for the better part of the past 10 years which has gotten us into a big part of the mess we are in today," Baker said. 
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