National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is October 23, 2021. Did you know there are LifeInCheck Consumer Drug Take-back ™ receptacles across the United States that make it easy to dispose of expired or unwanted medications?
Have you ever had that moment when you really know you shouldn’t do something, but do it anyway out of pure laziness? About a year or so ago, I wasn’t feeling well and didn’t want to go to the doctor for medicine.
Instead, I decided to take a prescription I already had in my medicine cabinet in hopes that would clear up symptoms. Boy was I wrong! The medicine had expired, causing me to have a horrible side effect and wishing I had made that doctor’s appointment instead of trying to take care of my illness myself.
I learned my lesson and will never do that again. I mean, what was I thinking?! It is certainly easier to schedule a doctor’s appointment and get new medicine than having to be sick from old medication.
Since that incident, I make sure to take all my expired and unwanted medication to my local pharmacy and dispose of them at the LifeInCheck Consumer Drug Take-Back receptacle helping to keep me and my family safe.
National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day October 23, 2021
The LifeInCheck Consumer Drug Take-Back receptacles are hard to miss. You can check out the website to find a location near you. Simply input your zip code and it will provide a list of safe drug take-back kiosks in your area.
All you need to do is gather your outdated or unwanted medications, head to your local LifeInCheck Consumer Drug Take-Back receptacle, open the drawer, place the medication inside and close the drawer. So simple and easy!
Some people tend to flush unused medications down the toilet or pouring them down the drains, which can be harmful to the environment. Or they leave the prescriptions in the medicine cabinet where others might be tempted to take the medicine.
Not only can expired medications make you sick but there is a country-wide opioid crisis that can be attributed to keeping medicine around the house that you no longer use. I no longer keep them in my house to ensure that my son does not have access to them.
While medications are great, they need to be taken properly and under orders from a physician. It’s eye-opening knowing the harmful repercussions of misusing prescription drugs.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse 18 million people in the U.S. over the age of 12 have misused medications at least once in the past year (per the LifeInCheck site). That’s why LifeInCheck created a Drug Disposal program that provides patients and caregivers with a safe method of disposal.
It’s a hard reality that you think will never affect your family or loved ones…until it does.
Opioid Crisis Facts:
- More than 1,000 people a day are treated in emergency rooms for prescription drug abuse and more than 250 die from drug overdoses.
- According to the CDC, more than 11.5 million Americans reported misusing prescription opioids in the past year.
It’s crucial to dispose of medications that are no longer needed or expired to help curb the opioid crisis. By properly disposing of medicine we are doing our part to keep our communities safe.
Be sure to dispose of your unwanted and outdated medications on October 23, 2021, or any day of the year, at one of the LifeInCheck Consumer Drug Take-Back receptacles, and it will help to protect your family and our communities!
