The community is invited to clean out their medicine cabinets and drop off old or unused prescription and over-the-counter medication at Kristen’s Pharmacy, 197 Albert Street South, Southampton. Everyone who drops off medication from Nov. 16 to 23, 2018 will receive a $5.00 Foodland Gift Card, while supplies last.

The Medication Misuse awareness campaign promotes the proper disposal and storage of medication and aims to reduce the amount of circulating unused/expired medication (especially opioid pain relievers). Unused medication should always be returned to a pharmacy for proper disposal.

The Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (2017) shows:

· 1 in 10 students (Grade 7-12) have used a prescription opioid pain reliever (e.g. Percocet, Percodan, Tylenol 3, Demerol and codeine) for non-medical purposes in the past year.

· 55% of teens who indicated they had misused prescription opioids said they took them from a parent or sibling.

· Non-medicinal use of over-the-counter cough and cold medicine by students in Grades 7-12 has increased to 9.2% from 6.4%.

Medication Drop Off
Date: November 16 – 23, 2018
Location: Kristen’s Pharmacy, 197 Albert Street South, Southampton

source: media release, Grey Bruce Health Unit