Patch Charlestown, MA --The fourth annual “Take Back” prescription drug disposal day will be held Saturday, June 15 in Charlestown during the Charlestown Chamber of Commerce Annual Street Fair.
Sponsored by the Charlestown Substance Abuse Coalition, a program of the MGH Center for Community Health Improvement, the Chamber of Commerce and Boston Police, the event will be the community’s fourth annual Prescription Drug “Take Back."
The awareness campaign and safe disposal day are designed to address the dangers of prescription drug abuse and lack of proper disposal methods. National authorities state that throwing used medications down the toilet or into the trash is not a safe environmental disposal method.
More than 150 individuals turned 580 vials of prescription medication and 53 vials of narcotic medications last year, and the unused prescription drugs were disposed in a safe and timely manner.
People who have unused medications can drop them in safe disposal medication bags that have been distributed throughout the neighborhood. Bags can be dropped off at the "Take Back" booth set up during the Street Fair, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Main Street between Austin and West School streets.
Residents who drop off a bag of unused prescriptions will receive a $5 gift card from a local merchant. Ambiance, Dunkin Donuts, Grasshopper Café, Toni Ann’s, Color for Nails, Hair Cuttery, Unleashed and Olivia Browning have donated gift cards.
“Take Back successfully brings together the entire community around one cause—taking prescription drugs out of our neighborhood,” said Beth Rosenshein, director of CSAC.
This year’s event is being held in conjunction with Turn It Around, a new social marketing campaign targeting teens and prescription drug abuse. CSAC’s youth group youth have been mounting posters throughout the streets of Charlestown and distributing T-shirts, stickers and buttons to local teens with messages about prescription drug abuse. Plans are underway for the campaign to appear on local subway and bus shelter signage.
The Turn It Around campaign incorporates these facts and combines the insights from the coalition’s youth group and the community to ensure that the campaign is relevant and authentic. Here’s what the young people said about why teens use or think of using prescription drugs: stress and depression, social pressure, family issues and feelings of wanting to escape. In addition, prescription drugs are easy to find and society tells us that prescription drugs make people feel better.
The brightly colored Turn It Around posters acknowledge the factors that contribute to teen prescription drug abuse. The campaign’s tag line, Turn It Around, is a positive message for youth who want to avoid or stop abuse prescription drugs.
In addition to the posters, T-shirts, buttons and stickers, the Turn It Around campaign uses social media outlets Facebook and Twitter (@turnitaroundctn) to create a forum where teens can share their feelings and address their stressors in healthy ways, and receive information about community resources that can help them overcome prescription abuse or addiction.
There also is a handout listing resources that will be available in pediatricians offices and the MGH Charlestown HealthCare Center. Reported by Patch 16 hours ago.