Deterra bags have been distributed to local pharmacies.
Join Together Atlantic County, a substance misuse prevention coalition, is partnering with Atlantic County pharmacies to help them educate their customers on proper medication disposal methods.
Prescription and over the counter medication misuse has been one of the main contributors to the opioid epidemic, and has led to accidental ingestion, addiction, hospitalization, overdoses and even death.
One of the best ways to prevent substance misuse and protect the environment, is by disposing of any unused, unwanted and or expired medications in a permanent prescription disposal drop box or with a Deterra drug deactivation disposal bag.
Charlie's Law, which was recently passed, requires that all pharmacies educate their customer about proper drug disposal and offer them a way to dispose of medication either through a permanent prescription disposal drop box or through a drug deactivation system like Deterra or Dispose Rx.
JTAC is providing pharmacies with free Deterra drug deactivation disposal bags, informational rack cards, magnets, stickers and posters that provide information about proper medication disposal. JTAC is also offering for sale a limited number of permanent prescription disposal drop boxes. JTAC visited nearly 55 pharmacies and supplied them with these materials over the past few weeks.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse in 2017, an estimated 18 million people - more than 6% of those aged 12 and older - have misused medications at least once in the past year. Misuse of prescription drugs is highest among young adults ages 18-25, with 14.4% reported for non-medical use in the past year. Among youth ages 12-17, 4.9% reported past-year non-medical use of prescription medications.
This coalition project is funded by a Drug Free Communities grant, from the Office of National Drug Control Policy. For more information, see www.jtacnj.org or call 609-272-0101, ext.22.
