[541] MTSU offers Prescription Drug Take-Back Day April 24

MURFREESBORO — Got drugs? Got drugs you need to dispose of properly?

The third MTSU Prescription Drug Take-Back Day will be held from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, April 24, on campus.

The drug take-back event will be held at the drive-up location next to the Campus Pharmacy drive-thru on the south side of the Student Health, Wellness and Campus Recreation Center on Blue Raider Drive. A printable campus map can be found at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParkingMap13-14.

Representatives will be accepting unused, expired or unwanted prescription and over-the-counter medicines for proper disposal.

No sharps — needles, scalpels, syringes and other sharp objects — will be accepted this time. Event organizers request that when possible, try to keep medicines in their original packaging, mark out any personal information, but leave the name of the medication visible on the label.

“In each of its two previous take-back events, the MTSU community has turned in approximately 30 pounds of medicines for disposal,” said Lisa Schrader, director of MTSU Health Promotion. “We have been incredibly pleased with these amounts, considering how new these events still are and how much confusion still exists regarding proper disposal processes.”

Schrader said she and other event organizers “consistently get thank-you notes and calls from campus community members who appreciate having such a convenient way to dispose of their unwanted medicines.”

MTSU Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is a collaboration between Public Safety, Campus Pharmacy, Health Services and Health Promotion. Students from the Lipscomb University College of Pharmacy will be among the collection representatives for the third time.

Drug take-back initiatives address a vital public safety and public health issue. Prescription drugs that languish in home medicine cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse.

Nationally, 1,700 tons of medicines have been disposed of through drug take-back events since 2010.

Public health officials say the rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high. About 6.8 million Americans currently abuse prescription drugs than the number of those using cocaine, heroine and other illegal drugs.

For more information, call 615-494-8704 or 615-494-8900, or visit the Drug Enforcement Association website at http://www.justice.gov/dea/index.shtml.