By MELODY METZGER – Courtesy of The Lamar Democrat
The Lamar Drug Free Coalition met Monday, April 8, at the AOK administrative office at 208A W. 10th St., in Lamar. The coalition meets the second Monday of each month, at 5:30 p.m. The meeting was led by Jerod Morey, project coordinator, who recognized two new guests to the coalition, Chris Wyatt, president of Cox Barton County Hospital and Debbie Sheat, RN Health Educator at the Barton County Health Department.
Morey reported that all necessary items for the continuation of the See Something/Say Something CADCA (Community Anti Drug Coalitions of America) grant have been submitted. Lamar Police Chief Rusty Rives reported that Jordan Silinas was still serving part time as the community resource officer, along with her full time duties as the school resource officer. Robert Lawrence, who is the full time community resource officer, has been on restricted duty due to an injury that occurred while in service. As soon as Lawrence is medically released he will take back over as full time community resource officer. It was noted that Silinas had responded to 95 calls for service, with a very large percentage being youth. It was reported that tips continue to be received and reported to the proper channels when necessary.
Morey inquired of Wyatt whether or not the hospital could still be a station for a tablet that is loaded with the P3 app. This app is a way of reporting incidents while staying completely anonymous. Due to the hospital being taken over by CoxHealth, it was new to Wyatt, who said he would be more than happy to have a station located at the hospital.
Officer Lawrence reported that 6 ½ pounds of prescription medication were brought to the Lamar Police Department in March. Morey mentioned that The Med Station, which is the only locally owned pharmacy in the area, was willing to partner with the coalition in any way they could. Morey took them three boxes of the disposable bags that had been given to the coalition by coalition member Steve Miller with the Community Partnership of the Ozarks in Springfield. These bags are used to dissolve unused medications. Miller said he would get the coalition more. It was also questioned whether or not The Med Station gives out information on hard narcotics.
As to policy updates, it was once again reported that in order to deter unruly behavior, the Lamar City Parks would be closed from 12 midnight to 5 a.m. daily. The question arose as to who the walking trail by Wheeler Park belongs to and it was thought possibly that at one time the hospital was responsible for it. Wyatt said that he would see what he could find out. Also under policy it was noted that the drug dog had been at the school a few weeks back and had alerted on a vehicle in the parking lot. Nothing was found; however due to the dog’s response, something evidently had been there previously.
A new grant has been submitted by AOK that is aimed towards drug reduction, as well as underage drinking, in rural communities. Another grant of the same type is possibly in the works as well. The school data and collection survey was collected and the results were gone over by those attending the meeting. A total of 587 responses were reported, with the survey being strictly voluntary.
After an extremely productive meeting the group adjourned to meet again on Monday, May 13, at 5:30 p.m. All individuals interested in working toward the eradication of destructive behaviors are welcome to attend and bring a friend.