Norfolk County DA and Public Safety Officials Kick Off Program to Stop Drunk Driving and Prescription Drug Abuse

With the holidays around the corner, local officials are ready to remind residents that it’s ok to have fun, but to be safe at the same time.

Fire chiefs and police chiefs from Norfolk County joined District Attorney Michael Morrison at Patriot Place Monday morning to launch two programs aimed at curbing OUIs and prescription drug abuse.

For the third year, the DA’s office has launched the Observe, and Don’t Overserve program to promote responsible habit from servers of alcohol during the holiday season.

“This to remind the servers, at the point of sale, if you see someone who is over served, stop them, you are trained to do that,” District Attorney Michael Morrissey said. “No one likes to lose anyone and it’s especially hard during the holiday so if we save one life, it’s a win.

Patriot Place, who is a partner in the program as well as the John R. Elliot HERO Campaign for Designated Drivers, served as the host of kickoff for the event.

Discouraging overserving, Patriots Place General Manager said the 16 establishments holding liquor licenses would receive extra training from the DA’s office after the event.

“It’s important to us. We’re a big part of the entertainment that happens in Norfolk County and we take it very seriously,” Patriot Place General Manager Brian Early said.

In addition to the training, three taxis are at Patriot Place on weekend nights and during stadium events for those who may have had one too many drinks. Also, Uber will be at Patriot Place starting on Black Friday.

A second initiative, the Prescription Drug Safety Initiative, will see police chiefs and the DA’s office visiting all 120 pharmacies in the country to ask them to do three things: Enroll in the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program designed to prevent doctor shopping and bogus prescriptions; distribute information cards, created and supplied by the DA, with safe drug storage and disposal information with every new prescription for addictive drugs the pharmacies fill; take and use materials outlining the yellow flags that local law enforcement have identified as warning of possible prescription fraud or abuse.

According to Morrissey, Norfolk country saw 64 deaths by overdose last year and are already at 58 for 2014.

The DA’s office plans to continue promoting the program on Wednesday when restaurant employees at Legacy Place in Dedham will be participating in TIPS training event on Wednesday as part of the campaign’s effort to discourage overserving.

“We’re not telling people to not have fun or not to drink. We’re just telling people to be safe,” Morrison said.