Madison County’s Promise
Drug Free Task Force
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
10:00a.m. – BRiDGES
Present: Officer Steve Lowell (Oneida Police), Chris Reynolds (Caz Action), Steve Goodfriend (STOPDWI),
Mary Bartlett (RSVP), Sharon Driscoll (Madison County Recycling Coordinator), Susan Jenkins (BRiDGES),
Jessica Hofmeister (DSS Intern), Marcie Soule (School Services Coordinator, DSS/ DF Chair),
Chief Michael Hayes (Cazenovia Police), Officer Sean Barton (Canastota Police), Sarah Howell (MCP)
I.
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III.
IV.
Introduction were made
Minutes were reviewed and accepted
Safe Pill Drop Off
a. The first Safe Pill this year is on April 28th from 9:00a.m.-1:00p.m. at the Madison County
Landfill.
b. This year the Madison County Safe Pill event will be partnering with the DEA. This
partnership will cut down on the operating costs of the event. There will be no cost for
incineration as the DEA will pick up and incinerate the drugs free of charge. The cost for
the Sheriffs will be lower as they will not need to make the trip to Fulton for the pills to
be incinerated.
c. Steve asked if there was any word on how many collections the DEA was doing this year.
Sharon said at this point we know only of the April event. If we decide to do an
additional event throughout the year we would have to cover the cost of incineration
and extra hours for the Sheriff.
d. The update on the drop off box at the Sheriff’s office is that we cannot place the box
there, but BRiDGES is looking into placing it in the county building. Abigail and Mo are
working on this project with the state health department as well as other Madison
County partners.
e. Sharon asked that anyone who sends out press for the Safe Pill Drop off have it
approved by Sharon, Mary, or Sarah prior to submitting it. The DEA does some
advertising, but we will do some of our own.
f. Incinerator Update:
i. Barton & Loguidice, P.C are the engineering firm the county works with and they
said that the incinerator that we were looking at does not qualify. Steve
mentioned that Undersheriff John Ball was going to speak to the engineers.
Sharon said that the DEC is concerned about the air pollution.
ii. Chris mentioned that her husband Scott (a mechanical engineer) works with fluid
dynamics and air quality and he has offered to work on projects to prove or
disprove validity free of charge. Undersheriff Ball can contact him as well.
g. Sharon is going to call the shredding company and schedule shredding for the same time
as the event. She also mentioned that the landfill reuse store will open on March 22,
2012.
Media Campaign
a. The media campaign will run in March and April county wide.
b. Sarah sent out materials prior to the meeting on two campaigns. Parents Empowered
and Be the Wall. The coalition ran Be the Wall last year.
c. The committee really liked how Parents Empowered reached out to parents more, but
wanted to remain consistent with campaigns for a few years.
d. The committee ultimately decided to go with the Be the Wall campaign again this year,
but will work to add more of a parent piece to this.
e. Chris mentioned that Caz College had done something where the students put a candle
V.
VI.
light in the window to show that they had been touched by alcohol at some level in their
lives. This year they want to look at building a brick sculpture to show the effect of
alcohol.
i. Someone suggested that she should get in contact with the stone quarry art park
to make it a more permanent display.
f. Sarah is going to look at the Discussion guide for parents from the Parents Empowered
site and see if we can use it with the Be the Wall campaign. This is something we could
provide to parents to help them start the conversation with their children, especially
before they start to drive.
g. Steven mentioned that we could contact Diana Wright at the Department of Motor
Vehicles as she puts together and distributes packets for youth who are in the process of
obtaining their learners permits.
Town Hall Meeting
a. Sarah informed the committee that BRiDGES had received a grant from SAMHSA
(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) to hold a Town Hall
Meeting in April or very early May. She asked in the Drug Free Task Force would like to
spearhead the planning for the Town Hall Meeting. In order to meet grant requirements
we would have to have a piece on underage drinking in the town hall meeting.
b. Sarah shared her idea of looking in the synthetic drugs like Spice,K2, and Bath Salts and
providing more information to parents. We could look at the effects of these drugs when
paired with underage drinking possibly.
c. Mary mentioned Meth Labs are very prevalent in Madison County, as one was busted
just down the road from her. Officer Lowell and Chief Hayes said that Meth labs are more
of a misnomer now, because it can be made in a 2 liter bottle of soda very easily. Officer
Lowell also said that the Oneida City Police are seeing a large jump in heroin use.
d. Mary suggested we do an overview of what is going on in Madison County perhaps like a
“This is here” town hall. The committee liked the “This is here” as a possible title.
e. Susan mentioned that perhaps we could purchase some of the synthetic drugs to show
parents what the packaging looks like.
f. Chief Hayes suggested that we tie alcohol use in as the “gateway” to more serious
behaviors.
g. Gretchen said that with the Choices and Consequences program she is seeing alcohol
and marijuana. Her students are up to 18 years of age and are usually court mandated.
i. Chief Hayes made mention that these synthetic drugs are not “illegal” so there is
very little law enforcement can do to people caught with synthetic drugs.
ii. Officer Lowell said that the first day the Spice and K2 were available in the head
shop in Oneida that the ER saw 56 people come in from the drugs. Officer Lowell
and Chief Hayes said they are seeing the usage of the synthetic drugs in the
college population and adults 20-30 year age range and less in the high school
students.
h. The committee decided that they would like to have a panel discussion. Possible
panelists include Dr. McMahon (Oneida Health Care), Michelle Caliva (Poison Control),
and a principal.
i. The tentative date for the town hall meeting is May 1st.
The next Drug Free Meeting will be March 14th at 11:00a.m. the meeting will be held at
BRiDGES. Please note we are meeting a bit earlier than usual to ensure enough planning time
for the town hall meeting.