A.C.T.I.O.N, ETSU, Sheriff's Dept host Drug Takeback Day in Johnson County

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day was observed in Johnson County with a local campaign to safely reclaim unused and expired medications.Representatives from A.C.T.I.O.N. Coalition, East Tennessee State University, and the Sheriff's Department or Police Department were all present at four different collection sites across the county–at Mountain City Town Hall, Shady Valley Fire Department, Butler Fire Department, and Evergreen Baptist Church in Trade.Dr. Jeff Gray, Associate Professor at ETSU's Department of Pharmacy Practice and A.C.T.I.O.N. Coalition Project Coordinator Elizabeth Osborne were present at Town Hall to collect medications between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday.People walked in, handed over their medications to either Osborne or Gray, and were asked a few survey questions. Some of the inquiries included questions about mail prescriptions, how many people's prescriptions were represented, and the reason that the prescriptions were no longer needed.Gray explained that the medications that were collected would be incinerated. "The police department gets permission from the Drug Enforcement Administration to store them until they can be incinerated," Gray said. "Eastman is our regional partner that does the incineration."When asked about other ways that people typically dispose of extra and expired medications, Osborne said, "Some people throw them in the trash, and a lot of people will flush them or store them in their medicine cabinet."Osborne went on to say that some people will give their unused prescriptions to friends and family, which is actually illegal. "These are not good options," Osborne said. "If the medications do in the trash they end up in our landfills, if they're flushed, they end up in our water supply, and storing them runs the risk of the medication falling into the wrong hands."To combat the issue of medication disposal, Osborne said that Johnson County has two drop-off locations that locals can access year-round at the Sheriff's Department and Johnson County Community Hospital.Locals can also stop by A.C.T.I.O.N. Coalition's main office at 138 E Main St to pick up at-home medication disposal systems. "We have Deterra bags, which are biodegradable." Osborne said. Not only is the solution biodegradable, but so is the bag itself. The Deterra system works by safely dissolving medication, rendering it no longer effective for medical use.Another disposal option, according to Gray, are reverse distributor envelopes that anyone can buy at their local pharmacy that come with pre-paid postage to the nearest regional facility that destroys medications.Excluding COVID, Gray shared that over the fifteen drug take back events that have taken place in Johnson County, 823 pounds of medications have been collected, including 46 pounds of controlled substances.Gray said that the statistics reveal that more medications are collected in cities that have at least one drug take back event and a drop box than in cities that only have one or the other. Gray said research shows that it's also rare for someone to travel more than ten miles to dispose of medications."Mountain city holds this event and I'm glad they do," said Osborne. "This county is so spread out, that's why we have drop-off locations in so many places," Osborne explained."We want people to be proactive with drug take-back," Gray said. "We're really trying to encourage people who've had trauma–maybe an accident, or a dental procedure–to clean out their medicine cabinet," Gray said. Gray also stressed the importance of cleaning out the medicine cabinets of lost loved ones. "There's a break-in risk for those who have passed away due to cancer or another illness."For more information, contact A.C.T.I.O.N Coalition. To dispose of medications, contact A.C.T.I.O.N. Coalition or go to the Sheriff's Department or Johnson County Community Hospital.