Community Corner
Medication Take Back Day - Saturday April 25th
a community event where you can dispose of unused or expired prescription drugs in a safe and environmentally friendly way.
The Putnam County Communities That Care Coalition, in collaboration with the Putnam County Health Department and Putnam County Sheriff’s Department, will be holding a Spring Medication Take Back Event at Putnam Hospital Center (PHC).
To help combat this growing threat to our nation’s children, Putnam Hospital Center will host the event on Saturday, April 25, 2015. The disposal hours are between 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Please enter through the PHC Cancer Pavilion entrance. Signage will be posted leading to the disposal area. Individuals can dispose of prescription medication, over the counter medication, and pet medication. Syringes will NOT be accepted. Please keep all medications in their original packaging and remove personal patient information.
Why should I participate in Medication Take Back Day?
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The answer is pretty simple – it’s safe, good for the environment and can save lives.
By bringing in your expired or unwanted medications to a take back day, you insure that it will be disposed of in a safe manner. Members of the Sheriff’s Department will be present to secure and dispose of the medications according to the law. By doing so, you also insure that there are no “accidental” poisonings/overdoses by leaving unwanted prescriptions in your home.
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When you participate in Take Back Day, you don’t have to worry about causing harm to the environment by flushing medications down the toilet or disposing of them in your trash. Medicines that are flushed down the drain or that leach from landfills eventually end up in our waterways. Pharmaceuticals have become a significant water pollutant nationwide.
Prescription drug abuse is the fastest growing drug problem in the United States today. Home medicine cabinets can be now be seen as the “new” drug dealer. According to the most recent data by the CDC, more than 60 people die every day in the United States from overdosing on prescription drugs. Prescription drug overdose (PDO) death rates now outnumber deaths from all illicit drugs—including heroin and cocaine—combined.
So on April 25th, come over to the Putnam Hospital Center and help us make Putnam County a better place to live! For more information, please call Robert Morris of the Putnam County Health Department at (845) 808- 1390 ext. 43166 or Kristin McConnell of the National Council on Alcoholism and Other Drug Dependencies/Putnam at (845) 225-4646 B
