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The Led County Ledger Your Hometown Source Of Local News Hometown Newspaper of Dennis and Sandra Parker Volume XXXIV - Number 8 Leesburg, Georgia - - October 12,2011 Fifty Cents Presciption Drug Take Back Day The Lee County Sher iff’s Office, The City of Leesburg and the City of Smithville Police Depart ments are hosting the second Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Satur day October 29th. The first take back event was very successful and brought in fifteen pounds of pharma ceuticals. Sheriff Rachals and the city police chiefs are concerned that these pharmaceuticals could be accidentally ingested by a child or be abused by an addict. This is a great opportunity for those who missed the first event or who have subsequently accumulated unwanted, un used prescrip tion drugs, to safely dispose of them. A Sheriff’s Office repre- sentive reported that they have seen a sharp increase of pills being abused in the past three years. Ac cording to Captain Danny McTyeire, the senior Narcotics Investigator with the Sheriff’s Office, drug unit arrests for illegal possession of a controlled substance accounts for 70 percent of all drug cases being made in Lee County. Meaning more prescription pills are currently being abused than marijuana, cocaine, and methamphet- amine. One of the reasons the substances are being abused is that they are easily accessible. Each day, approximately, 2,500 teens use prescription drugs to get high for the first time according to the Partnership for a Drug Free America. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including the home medicine cabinet. This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. More than seven million Americans currently abuse prescription drugs, accord ing to the 2009 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration’s National Surve^onDrug Use and Health. Nearly 4 billion prescriptions are filled in the LIS each year and it is estimated that nearly a third is unused, which leaves approximately 200 million pounds left in homes across the nation. The Lee County Code Enforcement Office became involved as part of the Great American Clean Lip and Rivers Alive when it was reported that wastewater treatment facili ties do not treat the water for the chemicals found in medication and the sub stances make their way into the creeks. A study was conducted nationwide by the USGS of 139 streams and the results found that 80% of the samples contained phar maceuticals.. “Why turn in the prescriptions and not just flush down a toilet or throw them away? “ Lee County Code Enforce ment Officer Jim Wright points out that in the past people did dispose of their unwanted pills by flush- See Pills, Page 2A EMC Collects Cell Phones For Soldiers Doherty, Duggan & Rouse Insurors AN EMPLOYEE OWNED COMPANY Home • Auto • Business • Life/Health P.O.Box 71628 (229)888-2040 Albany, GA 31708-1628 800-628-2040 2301 Dawson Road (31707) Fax (229) 435-3036 www.ddrins.com Lee County Woman’s Club will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 18 at First Baptist Church Leesburg To Subscribe Call 229-759-2413 meeting Lee County Commissioner Rick Muggridge, State Senator John Crosby and DCA Commissioner Mike Beaty are pictured with a ceremonial check. Lee County awarded 2011 CDBG Grant Special to the Ledger Lee County has success fully competed for and received a (Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) / Employment Incentive Program (EIP) / Redevelopment Fund) grant in the amount of $356,373.00 from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. The grant is for the purpose of paving and improvements to Livings ton Road. The grant award was presented to the county by Commissioner Mike Beatty and was accepted on behalf of the county by Commissioner Rick Muggridge in a ceremony conducted by the Georgia Department of Commu nity Affairs at The Mar riott Macon City Center in Macon on September 16, 2011. A total of 92 awards to various cities and counties were recognized on that date. The State CDBG program allows local gov ernments to compete for resources that can be used to assist public-private partnerships that leverage private investment and benefit low and moderate- income persons through economic development, public facilities, public infrastructure and neigh borhood revitalization projects. More information on the State CDBG pro gram can be found at: www.dca.ga .gov/com- munities/CDBG/docu- ments/CDBGHistorySto- riesHighlights .pdf. BANK of LEE COUNTY A Division of Bank of Terrell Special to the Ledger Macon State Prison, located in Oglethorpe, GA, recently donated 1,205 confiscated cell phones to EMC Engineering for the Cell Phones for Soldiers Project. Thanks to Warden Gregory McLaughlin and his staff for their generous contri bution! It is a tremendous help by turning these cell phones, which may have been intended for unlawful use, into some thing positive for the troops. For more than a year EMC Engineering has been accepting donations of cell phones for the sole purpose of our troops. Ap proximately half of the donated phones in good condition are reconditioned and distributed to a needy soldier. For those cell phones that cannot be recon ditioned, the components from the phones are recycled and the money is donated to Cell Phones for Soldiers for calling cards. For more information, you can visit their website at w ww.cellphonesforsoldiers. com. Currently, there are more than 150,000 troops are serving overseas; in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. This separation in difficult and they want to stay in contact with their loved ones. This is a great project and one that EMC is proud to be associ ated with. In fact, EMC began its companywide campaign for the collection of unused cell phones at the beginning of this year. The office in Lee County has been extremely involved and successful in this cam paign and we continue to look forward to more dona tions for our troops! 3000 N. Slappey Blvd., Albany (229) 446-0102 FDI€ www.bankofleeco.com Lee County Board of Education will meet Monday, October 17 at 5:30 p.m. at the Board of Education office building located at 126 Starksville Ave. in Leesburg for their business