On Saturday, April 29, from
10 a.m. to 1 p.m., residents can visit the Ipswich High School, located at 134 High
St., to dispose of their unwanted prescription drugs. The free event will be
sponsored by the Ipswich Police Department and Ipswich Aware, a
multi-disciplinary collaborative working to address the problem of substance
abuse and addiction and promote community awareness, education and youth substance abuse
prevention.
National Drug Take Back Day
is an initiative designed to provide a safe, convenient and responsible way to
dispose of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about
the potential for abuse of medications.
FACTS:
1 out of 4
teens have misused prescription medications.
2 out of 3
teens abusing prescription pain medications say they get them from family or
friends
Some teens hand out or sell extra pills of their own, or pills they’ve gotten or stolen from friends or family members
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Take steps at
home to keep medication out of reach of your children:
Do a check of
your family’s prescriptions. Find out if
any of the prescriptions can be
addictive or misused.
Keep prescription pain meds in a spot that only you can get to them. If possible, keep all medicines - both prescription and over-the-counter - in a locked cabinet or other secure place that kids can’t access.
If your child
has a prescription, make sure you hold onto the pill bottle for them.
Do a regular
inventory (e.g., check how many pills are left) of any prescription meds that
are in your home.
Get rid of
leftover (unused) prescription drugs.
If you are unable
to participate in the National Drug Take Back Day, you can always bring unused
prescriptions to the Prescription
Dropbox locations in town; Ipswich Police Department, 15 Elm St., or on the
lower level of the Town Hall outside of the Council on Aging cafeteria, 25
Green St.
