Oct. 25, 2017
Johnson City-area residents can join Miss Tennessee 2017 Caty Davis, Insight Alliance and Count It! Lock It! Drop It!® (CLD) in the fight against prescription drug abuse and misuse at a take-back event on Saturday, Oct. 28, at the Elizabethton Police Department (524 E. F Street).
“The DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day event is both a safe and convenient way for Tennesseans to rid their homes of old or unused medications,” Davis said. “Properly disposing of these medications can keep prescription drugs out of the wrong hands. I hope all who are able to attend will join me in the fight against Tennessee’s opioid crisis.”
The take-back event hours will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., during which residents will have the opportunity to drop off unused or expired medications. Davis, CLD’s goodwill ambassador, will be at the Elizabethton Police Department take-back location from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to raise awareness about efforts to combat the state’s opioid epidemic.
“The Carter County Drug Prevention Coalition is thrilled to have Caty attend our take-back event,” coalition director Jilian Reece said. “We look forward to seeing local residents Saturday, Oct. 28, as they drop off their old or unused medications.”
This will be just one of more than 100 National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day events across the state. Pharmacists and law enforcement officers will be on hand to accept the medications and safely dispose of them, no questions asked. More than 15 tons of drugs were collected statewide on the last National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day in April.
Drug Take-Back Day efforts are supported by the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Health Foundation’s partnership with the CLD program, which aims to decrease opioid abuse by encouraging the safe disposal of pain medication and providing tips on how to keep these medications out of the wrong hands.
According to CLD project manager Kristina Clark, Tennessee is third in the country for opioid prescribing, and ranks third in the nation for the number of opioid deaths.
For more information about the Count It! Lock It! Drop It!® program or to find a permanent disposal location, visit CountItLockItDropIt.org.
About Count It! Lock It! Drop It!®
Count It! Lock It! Drop It! (CLD) is a comprehensive community program for prescription drug abuse prevention that began in Coffee County, Tenn. Today, CLD is actively represented in 63 counties across Tennessee. For more information, visit countitlockitdropit.org.
About BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Health Foundation, Inc.
The BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Health Foundation, Inc., was established in December 2003 as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation organized to promote the philanthropic mission of BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee. The foundation awards grants focused on high-impact initiatives across the state, which promote healthy lifestyle choices and help control health care costs for all Tennessee residents. Working with civic and economic partners, the foundation is dedicated to the support of research, innovative programs and creative approaches to improve the health and quality of life of Tennesseans for generations to come.
About BlueCross®
BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee’s mission is to provide peace of mind through better health. Founded in 1945, the Chattanooga-based company is focused on serving more than 3.4 million members in Tennessee and across the country. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, Inc., is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. For more information, visit the company’s website at bcbst.com.
Contact:
Angela Argiro
615-259-4000
