ST. MARYS – Joint Township District Memorial Hospital and the Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office will give the public an opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
Take back hours are 9 a.m. to noon on Sept. 26 in the main front lobby of Joint Township District Memorial Hospital.
The Wapakoneta Police Department will also have their doors open to collect unused, leftover or expired prescription pills from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
This event is for residential/household medications only. Items for disposal cannot be accepted before or after these times.
Such an event helps address two growing problems:
1. Prescription drug abuse and prescription drug misuse
2. Medications becoming part of our waste stream.
Facts:
• Everyday, nearly 2,500 teenagers use a prescription drug to get high for the first time.
• 96 percent of unintentional poisoning deaths in Ohio are from drugs and medications.
• In Ohio, more people die from unintentional medication poisoning, than from motor vehicle accidents.
• Older people are prone to accidental poisoning.
• Ohio’s rates of drug abuse and misuse are higher than the U.S. rate.
• A vast array of pharmaceuticals – inclusive of antibiotics, anticonvulsants, mood stabilizers, hormones, acetaminophen, ibuprofen – have been found in drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans.
• Pharmaceuticals also permeate water tables deep underground.
