NorWest Community Health Centres is inviting you to safely get rid of expired or unneeded prescriptions, supplements, over-the-counter drugs or illicit drugs.
It’s the fourth annual Drug Amnesty Day.
Michelle Kolobutin, the clinic’s Coordinator of the Managed Alcohol and Harm Reduction Program, explains their goal is to help keep medications from ending up in the water supply or the wrong hands.
“Those quickly expire and run out and are not usable anymore, but people hang on to them because they’re not sure how to turn them in or what to do with them. So we encourage folks to clean out those medicine cabinets and bring us those drugs, and we dispose of them safely,” she says.
Kolobutin notes they hold this event ahead of Overdose Awareness Day on August 31st, which often has people asking health professionals what they can do to help.
“One of the things [we can do] is that we can all take responsibility for the drugs that are in our own possession,” she points out.
She says properly disposing of drugs also prevents people from taking medications that aren’t meant for them, or are expired and no longer effective.
You can drop off unwanted drugs outside the health centre at 525 Simpson Street between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Wednesday.
NorWest is holding the event in partnership with Janzen’s Pharmacy, the Superior Points program from the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, the Thunder Bay Drug Strategy, and Thunder Bay Police.
