The pill that caused Tecumseh High School student Cole Smoot to overdose last year was left over after the patient it was prescribed to died.
As director of Cole’s Warriors, a group dedicated to the education and prevention of prescription drug abuse, Danielle Smoot has worked to place drug drop boxes across the county.
Three boxes will be installed this week to assist with disposal. Residents can drop off unused or unwanted prescriptions and over-the-counter medication for free, no questions asked. No sharps such as needles will be accepted.
The boxes are the beginning of programs Cole’s Warriors hope to roll out countywide. Tecumseh is piloting a contract program where freshmen and their parents can agree to random drug screenings to encourage students to stay clean through high school. The results are kept confidential, but are sent to the parents, Danielle Smoot said.
The school is also the first to use TipSubmit, a free phone application that allows students to alert law enforcement of suspicious activity anonymously.
The options are meant to help lessen the pressure on students to do drugs and keep parents involved, Danielle Smoot said.
“If my son had said, ‘No, I will not sign up for this,’ that would have started a dialogue,” she said. “And to me that is just as important as anything we are doing.”
Other Tecumseh students and parents have become involved as well. Lestina Crockett said her son, Logan, has become a peer leader teaching others to stay away from prescription drugs since Cole Smoot’s death.
“If it just touches one life, you know he saved a life,” Crockett said.
Prescription drop box locations
Springfield Police Division, 130 N. Fountain Ave., Springfield
Clark County Sheriff’s Office New Carlisle Substation, 311 N. Church St., New Carlisle
Clark County Sheriff’s Office Medway Substation, 11100 Gerlaugh Road, Medway
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