America’s biggest drug problem is not on the street. It’s in our medicine cabinet.
On Saturday, April 27, Ashtabula County Medical Center is giving you the chance to safely and legally dispose of unused or expired prescription drugs.
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., you can drive through ACMC’s parking lot to drop off any prescription medication.
The one-day program is part of a nationwide effort to safely dispose of prescription drugs. Since the program began five years ago, Americans have turned in more than two million pounds of prescription drugs.
Removing prescription medication from circulation reduces the risk of drug abuse by adults and teenagers – a growing problem in Ashtabula County.
It also reduces the risk accidental poisoning.
Across Ohio 96% of unintentional poisoning deaths are from drugs and prescription medications. More people in the state die from unintentional medication poisoning than from motor-vehicle crashes and suicide.
The safe disposal of prescription also helps the environment.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) guidelines, no sewage treatment facility is designed to effectively remove pharmaceuticals that are flushed or washed down the drain. These drugs make their way into local rivers and lakes, and eventually into our water supply.
ACMC’s disposal day is supported by local law enforcement agencies as well as the U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration and the Ohio EPA.
Ashtabula City Police will be on-hand to assist with the disposal day at ACMC, and will maintain control of all prescription drugs.
Only residential medications will be accepted, and items for disposal cannot be accepted after 2 p.m. Participants are encouraged to remove the label on the medical container to protect their private health information.
ACMC’s prescription medication drive-through disposal will take place under the cement overhang (behind the garden) at the former main entrance of the hospital.
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