Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 30. 2010
Prescription Drug Take Back
One small step against epidemic
Question: What do Michael Jackson,
Heath Ledger, Bruce Lee, Judy Garland, Mar-
gaux Hemingway, Marilyn Monroe, Anna
Nicole Smith and Chris Penn all have in com
mon?
Answer: Their untimely demises resulted
from prescription drugs.
And those celebrities’ deaths were just the
first that popped up under a quick Internet
search targeting drug overdoses.
While there are extenuating circumstances
in every case, drugs that led to these fatalities
were not meth, cocaine, heroin or marijuana.
In some of the cases, prescription drugs trig
gered other medical conditions that killed.
Other cases remain suspected
suicides.
There is no shortage of dead
rock stars to provide glam
orous corpse proof that the bad
reputation of well-known non
prescription party drugs is jus
tified.
Less known is that in the
years 2009-2010, prescriptions
found in home medicine cabi
nets, drugs you can be legally
prescribed, that a doctor can
give you to relieve pain, that
you may get when facing a
rough patch in life, that your elderly relatives
may have left when they died or moved to a
care-giving facility, are even more dangerous.
Overdoses from prescription drugs killed
far more Georgians in 2009 than illegal drugs.
According to information from the GBI, over
doses from prescription drugs claimed 584
lives in 2009, compared to 86 from illegal
concoctions like meth.
In Georgia last year, prescription drug over
doses caused death more often than homicide,
according to an article in Chattanooga’s daily
newspaper. The GBI says prescription drug
overdoses result in one of every four dead
bodies they are called to investigate each year.
A GBI medical examiner said he considers
prescription drug abuse “epidemic” at this
time.
While attention to the impact of meth has
reduced its use, prescription abuse has snuck
in to replace it. As a former sheriff’s deputy
once said, the biggest problem with drug use
among local youth is that kids on Ritalin are
selling to kids who aren’t. But it’s not just kids
taking these drugs. Note from the list of dead
celebrities that none were teenagers.
What makes the prescription issue tough to
address is that at some point some doctor felt
someone needed the drugs prescribed. Taken
correctly, painkillers and anti-depressants
have a healthy use, according to medical pro
fessionals. But only when prescribed and only
when taken correctly.
The problem, of course, is when a drug is
misused by someone for whom it was pre
scribed or by someone else
after the drug changes hands.
Large quantities of prescription
drugs show up in police reports
of raids on illicit drug dealers,
so there is clearly an illegal net
work providing these drugs to
illegal users. And law enforce
ment actively combats this ille
gal use of prescriptions.
But a simple step we all can
take to help in the battle is safe
guarding the small quantities of
painkillers, anti-depressants, or
other prescriptions in our own
medicine cabinets.
Sheriff Donnie Craig and the Anti-drug
Coalition led the way with their Drug Take
Back Initiative Saturday.
The sheriff speculates it isn’t hard for a per
son to steal a few pills here and there from a
relative’s medicine cabinet. He noted the three
pounds of pills turned in Saturday included
painkillers that could have been sold or used
for illicit purposes. Now those pills are com
pletely off the street.
Craig plans to establish a permanent drop
off box at the jail, so used prescriptions can be
disposed of, no questions asked. Until then, a
toilet works just fine for getting rid of some
thing you no longer need.
While evil drug dealers are often castigated
by society, the media, and pastors, keep in
mind that unchecked medicine cabinets con
tinue as our number one killer at present.
According to the
GBI, overdoses
from prescription
drugs claimed
584 lives in 2009,
compared to
86 lives from
illegal drugs.
Agree or Disagree? Tell us your thoughts on this week’s editorial either online at
the message board on the Progress Online (www.pickensprogress.com) or with a letter to the
editor that will be published next week. Letters may be e-mailed to
news@pickensprogress.com. All letters must have a valid e-mail address, full name and a
telephone number for verification. Phone numbers are not published. Letters may also be
sent regular mail to Pickens Progress - P.O. Box 67 - Jasper, GA 30143. All names are pub
lished. The Deadline for letters is each Monday at noon.
The Essential Bad Attitude
By Alan Gibson
A violation
A man and a women met in a
hardware store. She was 40
years old and single. He was a
floor salesman, almost 60, bald
and paunchy.
She needed a gadget of some
kind and as he assisted her they
fell into conversation, indeed
repartee, for both were wits who
enjoyed a quip. The talk was so
pleasing that it transcended the
transaction - quite simply the
two people fascinated one an
other - and as the sale ended,
they found themselves wanting
to talk more but without any
of decorum
premise for doing so.
“I’ve got a break coming,”
the man said. “Would you like to
have a cup of coffee in the
lounge?” Salesmen weren’t ex
actly supposed to invite cus
tomers to the lounge. But here,
he felt, was a kindred spirit and
there was between them a com
pact of merriment.
“Sure,” the women said
brightly. She wasn’t in the habit
of doing this kind of thing but,
then again, what kind of thing
was it? Not a romance; there
wasn’t that sense. But there was
a splendid sense.
And they had regaled one an
other with wit and good talk in
what was surely some sort of
minor social breakthrough.
Moral: Free speech. Might as
well use it.
[ Gibson hosts Pickens
County's Friday Morning Dis
cussion Group. All attitudes are
welcome. For info: 770-893-
2578.]
Mixed female dog,black
and white, weighs
around 55-60 lbs. Has a
shock collar on. She has
bobbed tail. Last seen
on Walnut Road, Jasper
Please Call
770-893-7368
if found.
Thanks.
Comes by the name
Chloe
Are We
Getting It
Straight?
Have you spotted an
error in our pages?
Let our staff hear
about it.
706-253-2457 or
dpool@pickensprogress.com
CRIMINAL DEFENSE
Peter M. Zeliff, Attorney at Law
Teague & Zeliff, LLC
77O.887.4554
pzeliff@tzattorneys .com
(USPS 431-820)
Published by Pickens County Progress, Inc.
94 North Main St. P.O. Box 67 Jasper, GA 30143
(706) 253-2457 FAX (706) 253-9738
www.piekensprogress.com
JOHN R. POOL DAN POOL
Publisher Editor
WILLIAM E. POOL
Managing Editor
Published each Thursday at Jasper; Pickens County, Georgia.
Entered at the Post Office at Jasper, Georgia 30143 as Mail Matter
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PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS, P. O. Box 67. Jasper, GA
30143.
One Year's Subscription: $21.40 in Pickens County and in Gilmer.
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This week’s quotable quote --
"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will
annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. ” - Herm Albright
"It's amazing how the candidates expect us to forget all their
faults and still remember their names on election day."
OTHER VOICES FROM THE COMMUNITY - In Response to foreclosure article last week
Can everyone just get a grip?
By Ron Barnes
Associate Broker - Prudential
Georgia Realty
There was an article in the
Progress last week about fore
closures and real estate in Pick
ens County [the article is still
available online www.picken-
sprogress.com], I was quoted
along with several other folks
around the county. I can state
that everything I said was cor
rectly relayed to readers, and I
think the article was very well
written. However, at the end it
said “everyone” who was inter
viewed was pessimistic about
the future of real estate in Pick
ens County. I’m not happy with
the way things are right now, but
I would not say I’m pessimistic
about the future.
The geniuses who can’t tell
us when we are in a recession, or
when we will come out of a re
cession have spoken.
The longest recession since
1933 lasted for 18 months,
started before we knew it, and
has officially been over for sev
eral months. Dang! I don’t know
about you but I’m feeling better
already! The Sunday AJC had
opinions about the “Great Reces
sion” from Rajeev Dhawan,
Cynthia Tucker, John Adams,
Michael Kanell and the AJC Ed
itorial Board. I also read that
HUD and the Department of the
Treasury are telling us that the
market for existing home sales is
steadily improving. Of course
the administration takes credit
for this amazing recovery by
claiming they succeeded in put
ting out a forest fire with a water
pistol.
After absorbing all this won
derful information, I also
checked the weather forecast and
was told that my sidewalk is wet
because it’s raining today. While
things may be improving slowly,
we are still some time away from
the days of wine and roses. Un
employment is a huge problem,
and many people are suffering
either directly or indirectly from
it. That 18 month recession sure
doesn’t feel like it’s over for
most of us.
So let’s put it all in perspec
tive. The Appalachian Moun
tains we call home were formed
by the North American and
North African continents crash
ing into each other over a half
billion years ago.
They were once estimated to
be 10 to 18 thousand feet tall, but
have eroded through the years to
an average height of about three
thousand feet. The first human
inhabitants got here about
12,000 years ago.
The sensation that 18 months
is a long time is relative. Times
of war causing great economic
and human tolls have lasted
many years longer during our
lifetimes. Imagine the grief of
losing a loved one, or suffering
from poor health for most of
your life, or never being able to
experience any of life’s many
joys. Depending on who’s count
ing, there have been as many as
eleven recessions during my del
icate young life. The one charac
teristic they all have in common
is they all had a beginning and
end.
We can all sit around and
complain that Pickens County
has over 10% unemployment (or
whatever). Compare that to
Perry County, Tn. where the cur
rent rate is 14%, and the prospect
of losing 300 jobs that will drive
that figure up to 25%. We just
picked up 300 jobs with Walmart
which were not here before. In
stead of complaining because
Microsoft hasn’t built a
plant in Jasper, we need to look
better as individuals. Now is a
great time to plan how we will
handle the next wave of prosper
ity. Adversity breeds opportu
nity.
We all need to be realistic
while not being delirious. If you
have to sell right now, you’re
probably not real happy with the
market. If you are a home buyer
right now, you should be ecstatic
about all the choices you have
that can be financed almost for
free! We have seen the worst of
the downturn. Of course we have
challenges, but I don’t see any
thing pessimistic about the
prospect of going up from here.
Ron Barnes can be reached at
678-520-6648 or rbarnes@pru-
dentialgeorgia. com. Prudential
Georgia Realty is an independ
ently owned and operated mem
ber of Prudential Real Estate
Affiliates, Inc., a Prudential Fi
nancial Company. Equal Hous
ing Opportunity. Statistics are
taken from Trendgraphics.
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