The Bi-Annual National Drug Take Back will be held onSaturday, April 27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.The purpose of this event is to keep drugs out of the environment and off our streets.
Local residents are encouraged to simply drive up and drop off their old medications – prescriptions or over-the-counter — for proper disposal at one of the 13 Hamilton County area locations.Other counties participating include Marion, Bradley and Sequatchie.
Locations in Hamilton County:
Walgreens in East Ridge – 5301 Ringgold Road
Walgreens in Hixson – 5478 TN Highway 153
Walgreens in East Brainerd – 2289 Gunbarrel Road
Mt. Canaan Baptist Church – 4801 Hwy. 58
Sam’s Club – 6101 Lee Highway
Elk’s Lodge #91 – 1069 Graysville Road
Food City in Red Bank – 3901 Dayton Boulevard
Orchard Knob Baptist Church – 1734 E. 3rd Street
Signal Mountain Police Department -1111 Ridgeway Avenue
Walgreens in Brainerd – 3605 Brainerd Road
Walgreens in Ooltewah – 9307 County Highway
Walgreens in Soddy Daisy –121 Harrison Lane
Walgreens in St. Elmo – 3550 Broad Street
The program has positive community and environmental benefits. Having unused or expired medications in the home can lead to medication errors, accidental overdoses, or inappropriate use/abuse. In a well-intentioned effort to avoid these problems, many people flush unwanted medications down the toilet as a means of disposal. However, flushing medications means that traces of these drugs eventually end up back in the environment.
“Experience shows that the most effective and cost-efficient way to ensure high-quality water at the tap is to keep our source waters clean. We support this partnership because it helps spread an important message to the public: Don’t flush medications down the toilet, where they would eventually end up in our waterways,” said Kitty Vaughn, Tennessee American Water Supervisor of Water Quality and Environmental Compliance.
The local Drug Take Back program offers citizens a chance to safely and conveniently dispose of unwanted, unused prescription or over-the-counter drugs (for both pets and people) and avoid misuse or unintentional harm to families, pets and the environment.
“Properly disposing of medication reduces the chance of teenage experimentation and overdose. We encourage residents to take advantage of the drug take back day by simply driving to one of the locations and dropping off medication with no questions asked,” said Camilla Bibbs, Executive Director of the Hamilton County Coalition.
Along with Tennessee American Water, other sponsors for the Drug Take Back are:
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee
Count It! Lock It! Drop It!
City of Chattanooga Police Department
City of Chattanooga Youth & Family Development
CHI Memorial
Drug Enforcement Administration
East Ridge Police Department
Hamilton County Coalition
Hamilton County Sheriff’s Organization
Red Bank Police Department
Signal Mountain Police Department
Soddy Daisy Police Department
Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance’s Division of Consumer Affairs
Tennessee Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation
Tennessee Department of Transportation
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation
UnitedHealthcare
Walgreens
ABOUT TENNESSEE AMERICAN WATER
Tennessee American Water, a subsidiary of American Water (NYSE: AWK), is the largest investor-owned water utility in the state, providing high-quality and reliable water services to approximately 360,000 people in Tennessee and northern Georgia. With a history dating back to 1886, American Water is the largest and most geographically diverse U.S. publicly-traded water and wastewater utility company. The company employs more than 7,100 dedicated professionals who provide regulated and market-based drinking water, wastewater and other related services to over 14 million people in 46 states and Ontario, Canada. American Water provides safe, clean, affordable and reliable water services to our customers to make sure we keep their lives flowing. More information can be found by visiting www.tennesseeamwater.com.
