Did you know that pharmacies will take back you're unused and expired prescription drug and dispose of them safely?

This past week, from the 2nd to the 9th, was "Prescription Take Back Week" and was promoted by the Moose Jaw South Central Drug Strategy.

"The goal of the Prescription Take Back Week that's being facilitated by our local Drug Strategy Committee is really raising awareness of both the environmental and social harm of keeping expired and unused medications," explained Jillian Froehlich, Population Health Promotion Practitioner with the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

Pharmacies throughout the year will happily take you prescription drugs back and dispose of them in a better way than flushing them, throwing them away, or having someone else take them and use them. Really, when these drugs are left out or alone, statistics show just how bad things can get;

  • 45% of households contain medications that can be abused. Only 10% keep them in a secure place.
  • The most commonly abused prescription drugs are painkillers, depressants and stimulants.
  • 300,000 Canadian teens have abused prescription drugs. 59% of them got them from a home.

With support from local and rural area pharmacies and the Moose Jaw and District EMS, events were held in Moose Jaw, Central Butte, Craik, Gravelbourg, and Assiniboia, where people were given the chance to ‘clean out their cabinets.’

One of the best things about it is that it remains anonymous. When returning medications to a local pharmacy, they ask that the drugs be kept in their original packaging, but black out any identifying information on the label. If you bring pills in, they won't drill you for information, they'll accept the bottle and dispose of it properly.

To finish up the week, the Moose Jaw South Central Drug Strategy and the SHA held a "Take Back Event" at the Medicine Shoppe to choose winners of a draw where if you brought in prescription drugs you would get a ballot.

While you can turn in medication any time of the year, the SHA and Drug Strategy treat this as a 'blitz' event, where they can get as many in as they can in a weeks time, especially with the week making it relevant.

They expect to have the results of the total amount of prescriptions handed in sometime next week.