HAZARD – Looking more like a hog roaster than a pill incinerator, Operation UNITE’s brand new “Pill Dragon” went into full operation Friday in Hazard, and had plenty to chew on.

The incinerator was on loan from the Kentucky National Guard and set up in the parking lot next to the Hazard Police Department as a way for local residents to have their out-of-date or unneeded medications properly disposed of. The Pill Dragon burns at high temperatures, effectively reducing the pills to ash, which according to UNITE Director Karen Engle is the proper way to dispose of unneeded medications.

“For years the generally accepted method for disposing of old or left over medications was to flush it down the toilet,” Engle said in a release from UNITE. “That practice, however, has been strongly discouraged for the past decade because of concerns about the potential health and environmental effects of antibiotics, hormones, painkillers, depressants and stimulants making their way into our water system and our soil.”

UNITE is currently in possession of two dragons, one of which will be stationed in Pikeville, the other in London.

“We will make good use of them,” Congressman Hal Rogers told a crowd gathered beside City Hall Friday afternoon. “This is a very important project because it helps our rural law enforcement agencies have access to a safe and secure way to get rid of the drugs that are being called in by you and seizures that take place ... in our area.”

The Hazard Police Department was one of those agencies that made good use of the pill dragon on Friday, seizing the opportunity to rid the station's evidence locker of unneeded pills stored from past drug cases the department handled.

Rogers, who helped form UNITE with federal funding, said properly disposing of these medications not only helps the environment, but also keep dangerous and illicit drugs off the streets.

Rogers also took a moment to “brag” on Perry County, noting that more of the county’s residents call in tips to UNITE’s tipline than any other county in the 5th Congressional District. He noted that tipline calls remain the biggest source of information the agency receives.

“Every call ... is followed up on by UNITE or one of the law enforcement agencies,” he said, adding that those calls are anonymous.

Operation UNITE has seized thousands of pills and their investigations have led to hundreds of arrests and convictions, but Rogers said there is still much that needs to be done, and cited one alarming statistic as evidence.

“There were 114 overdose deaths in two months in the 21 counties in the region that we’re talking about,” he explained. “One hundred fourteen people died [from] overdose in the first two months of this year. That’s the scope of the problem that we’re dealing with.”

Roger labeled the drug problem as an “epidemic,” and noted the need for stronger support for the local UNITE coalitions.