MURFREESBORO, Tenn. —
Dominic Cooper was one of dozens of MTSU
employees and area residents bringing their old, unwanted medical prescriptions
and over-the-counter drugs to campus Thursday (April 20).
It was for the annual MTSU
Drug Take-Back Day, a 5½-hour collection held adjacent to the Student
Health, Wellness and Recreation Center on the east side of campus.
It was part of the Drug Enforcement Agency’s overall
national efforts to remove excess
drugs from communities where they could be abused or misused, diverted into the
wrong hands or disposed of in environmentally unsafe ways.
By the end of the collection period, MTSU officials
collected 92.2 pounds — a 20 percent increase from fall 2016.
A relatively new MTSU employee, Cooper said it was his first
time to bring his unwanted medications to the university.
“I have been trying to get rid of these,” said Cooper, a
West Tennessee admissions counselor in the Office
of Admissions. “I would rather they be in safe hands than at my house
sitting in the bathroom medicine cabinet.”
Cooper said one of his medicines, a strong pain pill, was
one that was prescribed for him after dental work, but he really did not need
it because he’s “good with pain.”
Assisting Campus
Pharmacy director Tabby Ragland
and Health Promotions director Lisa
Schrader in the spring collection were Lipscomb
University College of Pharmacy doctoral students Kara Stockdale and Kaylee
Cerminara. Both are from Nashville.
The drug take-back event is a joint venture between the
pharmacy and Campus Police.
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