Operation Medicine Drop to be held Saturday at mall
By Staff Reports
Published in News on October 9, 2013 1:46 PM
Operation Medicine Drop will be held Saturday to collect unwanted and outdated prescription and over-the-counter medicines as a part of Kids Fest at Berkeley Mall.
Wayne County 4-H Prevention Program, the Sheriff's Office, and Wayne Connections Substance Abuse Task Force will be on hand to collect medicines from area residents.
Residents are urged to check out their medicine cabinets, clean them out, and bring any outdated and unwanted medicines to be disposed of correctly and safely.
Medications disposed of by flushing them down the toilet may contaminate the water system. Abusing prescription medication has become the second drug of choice for teens, behind marijuana, so it is important to keep these items out of the wrong hands.
Surveys from the National Institute on Drug Abuse indicate that 20 percent of teenagers say they have taken a prescription drug without a prescription to them and 5 percent reported abusing over-the-counter cough medicine to get high. Young people mistakenly believe that prescription medicines can be "safer" to use and shopping in medicine cabinets makes these drugs free.
Residents who are unable to bring medications to the mall can take them to the Sheriff's Office Annex, where there is a collection box. Call Brandy Jones at the Wayne County Sheriff's Office at 919-705-6584 for further information.