CLEVELAND, Ohio – Feb. 3, 2011 – Real estate agents who hold open houses or show properties by appointment should remember to warn owners to empty their medicine cabinet of prescription drugs. Doing so removes the primary attraction for addicts who enter the premises on the pretense of being a prospective buyer.
“Guard your [medicine] with the same scrutiny you would guard your wallet or your credit cards,” advises Detective Dennis Luken, vice president of the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators’ Ohio division.
The law enforcement official, who says that drug thefts from for-sale homes is “everywhere” and is “more common than you think,” has created a flyer for realty professionals and their clients. It recommends placing controlled-substance prescriptions in a locked container or in an obscure hiding place, such as inside a pair of boots.
Luken says it’s important to keep even empty pill bottles out of sight, since addicts have been known to call in a refill based on the label information, go to a pharmacy and pick it up there.
Carol Woodard, chair of the Cleveland Area Board of Realtors, reminds sellers that medicines are not the only vulnerable belongings that need to be protected, however. “Have a filing cabinet or some drawers somewhere that can be locked,” she says. “Personal records, credit cards, mail – anything of that sort must be under lock and key.”
© Copyright 2011 INFORMATION, INC
“Guard your [medicine] with the same scrutiny you would guard your wallet or your credit cards,” advises Detective Dennis Luken, vice president of the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators’ Ohio division.
The law enforcement official, who says that drug thefts from for-sale homes is “everywhere” and is “more common than you think,” has created a flyer for realty professionals and their clients. It recommends placing controlled-substance prescriptions in a locked container or in an obscure hiding place, such as inside a pair of boots.
Luken says it’s important to keep even empty pill bottles out of sight, since addicts have been known to call in a refill based on the label information, go to a pharmacy and pick it up there.
Carol Woodard, chair of the Cleveland Area Board of Realtors, reminds sellers that medicines are not the only vulnerable belongings that need to be protected, however. “Have a filing cabinet or some drawers somewhere that can be locked,” she says. “Personal records, credit cards, mail – anything of that sort must be under lock and key.”
© Copyright 2011 INFORMATION, INC
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