How to fight opioid abuse by trashing old medicine

Adam Tamburin 

April 27, 2017

Middle Tennesseans will get a chance to unload their old prescriptions Saturday when pharmacies across the area participate in the National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.

The bi-annual event, which is supported by the Drug Enforcement Administration nationally and the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Health Foundation, has taken on added significance as health and law enforcement officials grapple with rising levels of opioid abuse.

Kristina Clark, co-developer of the Count It! Lock It! Drop It! program to reduce prescription drug abuse in Tennessee, said the state ranked second in the nation for opioid prescriptions and fourth in the nation for the number of opioid-related deaths. She added that getting rid of old or left over prescriptions could be a key tool in the fight against drug abuse.

“More than half of Tennesseans who use opioids recreationally indicate they get them from a friend or relative,” Clark said in a statement. “So it’s important to safely secure your prescriptions and dispose of them once they are no longer needed.”

Several local pharmacies are participating in the take-back day, including:

Drug stores in Franklin, Brentwood, Murfreesboro, Gallatin, Goodlettsvile, Hendersonville, Portland Springfield, White House, Lebanon, La Vergne, Spring Hill, and Dickson are also participating.

Read more in the Tennessean.

Adam Tamburin is a higher education reporter at the Tennessean. Adam began covering higher education for The Tennessean in January 2015 after two years as the organization’s early morning breaking news reporter.