If you have old prescription medication kicking around the house, you can soon swap it for tickets to an Owen Sound Attack game.
Grey Bruce Public Health has again teamed up with the OHL franchise for another "Attacking Medication Misuse" campaign. The aim is to raise awareness about how to safely dispose of expired and unused medication.
"Our message is this: don’t flush it, don’t trash it, don’t share it, as doing so can impact human health and, in some cases, harm the environment as well," Monica Blair, manager of the health unit's harm reduction program, said in a statement. "All pharmacies accept old or unused medications year-round and ensure they are disposed of properly, safely, and will not get into the wrong hands.”
Starting Monday, people who take their old or no-longer needed prescription drugs or over-the-counter medications to the Rexall Pharma Plus at 963 2nd Ave. E. will be given a voucher for a free ticket to any regular season Attack home game. The campaign will run through to November 29, or until the free vouchers are all claimed.
It took only three days during last year's campaign to distribute all of the free vouchers. More than 120 bottles of unused medications including opioids, benzodiazepines, and other potentially harmful substances were collected over those days.
People taking part in the campaign will be asked to indicate on a form at the Rexall what medication they are returning. This information will be collected by the health unit for reporting purposes.
Leaving old medications in your home can lead people to inadvertently take expired pills, which can have potentially dangerous consequences. The health unit also noted that keeping old meds increases the chances of recreational misuse by youth who tend to raid family medicine cabinets.
