Count, Lock and Drop your pills! That's the message from the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Health Foundation, which is teaming up with the Tennessee Department of Health and the Coffee County Anti-Drug Coalition to reduce prescription pain medication abuse in the state. To help address the state's opioid epidemic, the BlueCross Health Foundation is providing a $1.3 million grant to expand the Coffee County Anti-Drug Coalition's Count It! Lock It! Drop It!™ program to counties with high rates of opioid deaths. The funding will support training and outreach efforts including a public education advertising campaign.

In 2015, BlueCross covered more than 1 million opioid prescriptions for its members - that's more than 66.6 million painkillers dispensed. "We know pain medication is necessary to treat many conditions; but there is a clear need to engage in clinical and social efforts across the state to prevent the many tragedies that individuals, families and entire communities have faced from opioid abuse and addiction," explained Andrea Willis, MD, CMO for BCBST.

The Count It! Lock It! Drop It! program encourages community members to:

• Count It! Count pills once every two weeks to monitor theft and help ensure medications are taken properly.
• Lock It! Lock and store them in a secure place where others would not think to look.
• Drop It! Take unused or expired medications to drop boxes located in participating law enforcement offices or pharmacies or during take-back events.

Count It! Lock It! Drop It! is currently operating in 32 counties statewide - 11 in East Tennessee, 18 in Middle Tennessee and three in West Tennessee. A main element of the program is permanent drop boxes located in law enforcement offices. By last month, all 95 Tennessee counties were scheduled to have a box in place. For more information, go to countitlockitdropit.org.