On Tuesday, July 19, the Community Center will host a talk by Healthy Lincoln County about practical ways to store drugs and alcohol safely. It is important information for parents and grandparents. “In 2014, 55 children in Maine accidentally took opioids,” explained Kate Marone, Healthy Lincoln County’s director.

The free program at the Community Center, located in the Meadow Mall in Boothbay Harbor, will begin at 6:30 p.m. and continue through the presentation and a question-and-answer period. Healthy Lincoln County contacted the Community Center and proposed the talk.  Jane Good, Center director, was “delighted” at their suggestion. “These are the kinds of programs we want the center to provide,” she said.

Marone and project coordinator Patricia Buck-Welton will bring interesting and unusual insights to their talk, offering recent examples and situations that parents and grandparents may not have considered.

In one recent situation known as an intruder scam, prescription drugs were stolen from a number of Damariscotta homes when a woman who claimed to be pregnant appeared at residences asking to use the bathroom. Knowing that most people store prescriptions in a bathroom or kitchen cabinet, the woman was trying to obtain drugs.

Another example that Marone and Buck-Welton give includes people who are selling their homes.  A prospective buyer may take advantage of the situation to gain access to the bathroom medicine cabinet.

These and a number of other situations will be addressed during the talk on Tuesday evening.  As Marone explains, “We want to share practical tips so people can take appropriate actions.”

Both opioids and alcohol are problematic for children, according to Marone.  “You see people playing with a child and pretending that candy is medicine. Children need to learn that (medicine) is medicine and that it is not harmless.”

Buck-Welton adds that substance abuse can start when a child takes liquor out of a cabinet at home. She advises parents and grandparents to drink responsibly, monitor the content of liquor bottles (“make sure the vodka is not water”) and “don’t send your child to fetch your beer.”

Both Marone and Buck-Welton hope that the evening will offer an opportunity for a discussion about these issues. “We hope to talk about what we can all do as individuals to promote healthy behaviors in our youth,” Marone says. “Substance abuse that begins in childhood impacts lifelong behavior.”

Space for the program is limited so those who wish to attend are encouraged to phone the Community Center at 633-98976 to reserve a seat.

Healthy Lincoln County was started in 2011 and is a non-profit public health agency that addresses health issues in the area. The agency can be reached at 207-563-1330. Its website is:  www.healthylincolncounty.org.