Staff Report

A meeting of the Surry County Prescription Drug Task Force will be held Monday night in Dobson.

The public is invited to attend and share ideas as well as learn about various initiatives under way to curtail abuse and misuse of dangerous medications locally.

Concerned officials in Surry, including Mount Airy Police Chief Dale Watson, formed the task force last year as a way to combine community resources to deal with a problem responsible for at least 30 overdose deaths of county residents in 2011.

The task force recently has been meeting once a month as prevention programs take shape under a “Project Lazarus” model developed in Wilkes County.

Monday’s session will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the cafeteria of Central Middle School located at 1990 Zephyr Road in Dobson.

“The venue has changed again in order to draw more support and get our initiatives out to our surrounding areas,” Watson explained regarding a task force goal of holding meetings in all corners of the county.

In February, the coalition met in Elkin and its January meeting was held in Pilot Mountain.

“This meeting will give our sector groups the opportunity to report on their initiatives and present their upcoming goals,” Watson said of the various entities of the task force to be represented Monday. They include local schools, medical providers, pharmacy personnel, ministers and other stake-holders.

The prescription-drug coalition basically has been operating on no budget, but a $30,000 grant is being sought to aid its efforts through a “Building Capacity for Substance-Free Communities” program.

That grant, if received, also would be available for a second year, meaning total assistance of $60,000 is possible.