The Metro Drug Coalition and Knoxville Police Department to collect unused medications to keep community safe.
Today, October 8, 2022, 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at the Ingles located at 430 E. Emory Road, Powell, TN 37849
Metro Drug Coalition and the Knoxville Police Department are partnering to participate in the DEA National Take Back event. Community members will have the opportunity to safely dispose of unwanted medications–no questions asked. Safely disposing of unwanted or unused medications helps to reduce the risk of accidental ingestion and substance misuse, as well as environmental harm caused by flushing medications or disposing of them improperly, helping to keep our community safer. Data from U.S. poison control centers suggest that pain medication is the most common substance implicated in adult poison exposure and that from 2015-2019 a variety of medications were implicated in some of the most common, and the most severe, cases of accidental ingestion of household substances by children. These data also indicate that calls to poison control centers during this time showed that pain medications were the single most frequent cause of pediatric fatalities. Properly disposing of medications reduces the chances of ingestion. The following items will be accepted: all household prescription and over-the-counter medications (including narcotics), liquid medications, ointments, lotions, drops, pet medications, syringes/medical sharps (including EpiPens), and expired Narcan/Naloxone.
Metro Drug Coalition is a non-profit organization established by a joint resolution of the City of Knoxville and Knox County to unite policy makers and leaders to address community substance misuse issues. It serves the community by educating; advocating for treatment, prevention and recovery services; and providing a forum in which members from all sectors of the community come together to address substance misuse. More information can be found here
