Drop Off Your Drugs June 1 to Help Keep Kids Safe!

On June 1, students in Buncombe County will head home for the summer break. What they may get into while on vacation has prompted a massive effort by the Partnership for Substance-free Buncombe County. This coalition of schools, law enforcement, health centers, parents and community non-profits is partnering with Ingles to keep prescription medications and alcohol out of the hands of youth who often have large amounts of unsupervised time on their hands over the summer.

Nationally, up to 20% of America’s young people report abusing prescription pills, with more than 50% of America’s 12th graders reporting that they obtained free prescription pills or purchased them from friends and relatives.

Alcohol abuse is an even bigger problem. Nationally, the average age young people start drinking is 13. A higher percentage of young people between the ages of 12 and 20 use alcohol than use tobacco or other illicit drugs. The primary source for both pills and alcohol is the home, a fact that is prompting this campaign before school is out for summer.

Now through June 1, over 10,000 special bright yellow “Drop Off Your Drugs” bags will be available on checkout counters at all Buncombe County Ingles stores. One side of the bags reminds adults to “lock up any liquor” they may have on hand. The flip side invites adults to use the bag to get rid of unwanted or expired prescription medications. They should then bring the filled bag to any Buncombe County or Asheville City middle or high school on Friday, June 1.

School Resource Officers will be on hand from 7am until 1pm on Friday, June 1, at any BCS middle or high school, and until noon at Asheville Middle and High, to accept the unused medications and dispose of them properly. ONLY ADULTS SHOULD BRING MEDICATIONS TO THE SCHOOLS…THEY MUST NOT BE SENT WITH STUDENTS.

A flyer inside each bag explains very important basic rules about the prescription medication drop off, including the following steps:

1. Remove all identification from medications and empty the dry pill medications into one of the YELLOW bags.
2. Remove all identification from liquid medications, LEAVE them in their original container, and place in a YELLOW bag.
3. Separate pill, liquids and inhalers into separate bags. Use a different bag for each type of medication (any bag will do).
4. NO Radioactive medications such as cancer medications are accepted.
5. NO needles or sharps.
6. ONLY ADULTS are allowed to drop off Prescription Medicine. DO NOT send the bags or any medicine with students to be dropped off.

Please help spread the word about this important project!

Contact Randy Sorrells, Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department at 250-6670 or Jan Blunt, BCS Communications, 775-5517.