North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey will continue a push to battle the opioid crisis by attending Operation Medicine Drop drug take-back events in Craven County on Saturday, April 30.
While in the region, Commissioner Causey, who is also the State Fire Marshal, will distribute grant checks to two area fire departments and attend a mayor’s breakfast at the 50th-annual Shad Festival.
Commissioner Causey will help residents dispose of outdated medicine and be available to the media at two Operation Medicine Drop events in Craven County, one at the No. 7 Township Fire and Rescue Department on Old Cherry Point Road and one at Realo Discount Drugs on Commerce Drive in New Bern.
Operation Medicine Drop is a free drug take-back program that gives people a safe and secure way to dispose of unwanted over-the-counter and prescription medications.
Since 2010, Operation medicine Drop campaigns have successfully incinerated more than 266 million pills collected through approximately 470 permanent drop box locations and more than 4,000 events across North Carolina.
Operation Medicine Drop is a partnership between Safe Kids North Carolina (within the N.C. Department of Insurance), the North Carolina Department of Justice, The Drug Enforcement Agency and the State Bureau of Investigation.
For more information about Operation Medicine Drop, including a list of permanent drop-off locations, click here.
Commissioner Causey, in his State Fire Marshal role, will present $5,000 grant checks to the Belvoir Volunteer Fire Department from Pitt County and the Goose Creek Island Volunteer Fire Department from Pamlico County.
The grants are the result of a $250,000 contribution made by the N.C. Surplus Lines Association to help firefighters and rescue squads in North Carolina.
The media is invited to attend and cover these events.
Here is Commissioner Causey’s public schedule for Saturday:
8:30 a.m. – Belvoir Volunteer Fire Department 4189 N.C. 33 West, Greenville, N.C. 27834 (Presentation of Surplus Lines grant checks) 9:30 a.m. – Grifton Town Hall 528 Queen St., Grifton, N.C. 28530 (Mayor’s breakfast and opening ceremony for Grifton Shad Festival) 11:30 a.m. – No. 7 Township Fire and Rescue Department 1705 Old Cherry Point Road, New Bern, N.C. 28564 (Operation Medicine Drop drug take-back event) 12:10 p.m. – Realo Discount Drugs 1301 Commerce Drive, New Bern, N.C. 28562 (Operation Medicine Drop drug take-back event and Surplus Lines grant checks presentation to Goose Creek Island Volunteer Fire Department)