April 19, 2018
Count It! Lock It! Drop It!® (CLD) is encouraging Tennesseans to participate in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on Saturday, April 28. More than 150 take-back events will be held across the state from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., when residents will have the opportunity to safely dispose of their unneeded or expired medications.
Take-Back Day events scheduled in the East Tennessee area include:
• Kroger – 9225 Kingston Pike in Knoxville
• V.O. Dobbins Complex – 301 Louis St., in Kingsport
• Kingsport Justice Center – 200 Shelby St., in Kingsport
• Bristol Police Department – 801 Anderson St., in Bristol
To help maintain record-setting numbers, community members are encouraged to stop by their nearest take-back location to drop off their unused or old medications, especially pain relievers and other prescription drugs. Pharmacists and law enforcement officers will be on hand to accept the medications and safely dispose of them, no questions asked.
Current Miss Tennessee Caty Davis and members of the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy participate in a Take-Back event in Knoxville.
“Count It! Lock It! Drop It!® is a comprehensive community initiative funded by the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Health Foundation that is focused on three easy steps anyone can take to prevent others from accessing their drugs: Count their pills, keep them locked up, and safely dispose of them at a take-back event or in a permanent drop box,” said Kristina Clark, project manager of the initiative. “CLD will be hosting a number of take-back locations to make it as easy and convenient as possible for people to rid their homes of medications they no longer use or need.”
“Fifty-three percent of Americans who use prescription drugs recreationally got them from a friend or relative, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. A survey conducted for BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee in 2016 also found that 64 percent of Tennesseans know someone who has become addicted to prescription pain medication,” said Dr. Andrea Willis, senior vice president and chief medical officer at BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee. “National Prescription Drug Take-Back Days are a safe and easy way to protect your loved ones and to get these drugs out of your home.”
Take-back events in Tennessee can be found at http://countitlockitdropit.org/drop-box-finder/. According to the DEA, Tennessee collected 54,294 pounds of medications statewide during two Take-Back Days in 2017. If you can’t make it to a take-back event, visit www.countitlockitdropit.org to find a drop box in your community. Drop boxes are available in all 95 Tennessee counties.
About CLD
Count It! Lock It! Drop It!® (CLD) is a comprehensive community initiative for prescription drug misuse prevention based in Coffee County, Tenn. With support from the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Health Foundation, an independent licensee of the BlueCross and BlueShield Association, and the community at large, the initiative is leading a statewide effort to combat the misuse of prescription medication. According to the Tennessee Department of Health, 7,636,112 opioid prescriptions were written in 2016, and it is CLD’s mission to create a cultural shift around prescription drug misuse to help keep communities safe and drug-free.
