Grey Bruce Public Health is bringing back a campaign to address medication misuse.
Running from Nov. 18 to the 25, Manager of the Harm Reduction Program Monica Blair says the goal of the Attacking Medication Misuse campaign is to remind residents of the safe way to dispose of medication.
“The safest way to dispose of any unused medication, both prescription and over-the-counter, is to return it to a pharmacy,” says Blair.
As part of the campaign, public health has teamed up with the Owen Sound Attack and Rexall Pharma Plus in Owen Sound.
Starting Nov. 18, residents in the region who clean out their medicine cabinets and bring their old and no longer needed prescription and over-the-counter medication to the Rexall at 963 2nd Avenue East, will receive a voucher for two free tickets to any regular season Owen Sound Attack Wednesday night home game.
“All pharmacies accept old or unused medications year-round and ensure they are disposed of properly,” says Blair. “This is something that can be done at any pharmacy at any time, it’s not limited to this campaign but the campaign is a reminder for everybody.”
She says this campaign will hopefully keep medications out of the wrong hands as well as out of landfills and waterways were it could have an impact on human and animal health.
Based on the most recent Ontario Student Drug Use and Mental Health Survey conducted in 2021, she says the percentage of students who used a prescription opioid without a prescription jumped from 11 per cent in 2019 to 12.7 per cent in 2021. Additionally, one in eight students reported using any prescription drug without a prescription within the past year. Also, nearly four per cent of students reported using over-the-counter cold or cough medicine to get high.
“If you’ve got medications in your medicine cabinet that have been sitting there for a while, there is potential for somebody to take them by accident and it could have a negative impact on their health. For example, if you had an opioid prescription in your medicine cabinet that is no longer being used, no longer needed and somebody took that by accident, it could potentially lead to an overdose,” says Blair.
This campaign makes its return after it was last held by Grey Bruce Public Health in 2019. As a result of the Covid pandemic, Blair says it got pushed to the back burner.
The campaign lasts until Nov. 25.
“While the ‘Attacking Medication Misuse’ campaign will run for only a limited time, we hope the message resonates in the community – that properly disposing of unused and expired medication benefits both human and environmental health and has the potential to save lives,” says Blair.
