THUNDER BAY -- Thunder Bay police and members of the Zone Watch program hosted a drug take-back program Saturday.
Police and Zone Watch set up a tent outside of Shoppers Drug Mart on Hodder Avenue, and encouraged citizens to drop off any unwanted or expired prescription drugs.
“It’s that time of year where people have to start looking to clean out their medicine cabinets,” said Cst. David Morrison. “Unfortunately, after a while the medication can go bad - it’s just like food.”
The station offered a safe and clean disposal for anyone who wished to come.
For Morrison, an extra emphasis on safe disposal, means less prescription drugs in the hands of Thunder Bay’s youth.
“Particularly with painkillers, we want people to be cognisant of the fact that, if parents aren’t using it, they should be getting rid of it,” said Morrison. “Unfortunately, there’s a number of youth that get into drugs by going into their parents medicine cabinets.”
Morrison also wanted the drop-off program to raise awareness about the dangers of improper disposal of prescription drugs.
“If [the drugs] goes down your toilet, it’s going to the sewer system, and that’s eventually going into our lakes and waterways,” said Morrison. “What’s safe for humans may not be safe for wildlife. If you put it in your garbage, animals can get to that.”
