Tennessee American Water Encourages Residents to Participate in National Drug Take Back Day

The National Drug Take Back for the fall will be held on Saturday, October 22, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern time zone. The purpose of this event is to keep drugs out of the environment and off of our streets. Four of the locations will also include document shredders provided by the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, Division of Consumer Affairs.

The local Drug Take Back program offers citizens a chance to safely and conveniently dispose of unwanted, unused prescription or over-the-counter drugs (for both pets and people) and avoid misuse or unintentional harm to families, pets and the environment.

“Experience shows that the most effective and cost-efficient way to ensure high-quality water at the tap is to keep our source waters clean. We support this partnership because it helps spread an important message to the public: Don't flush medications down the toilet, where they would eventually end up in our waterways,” said Valoria Armstrong, President of Tennessee American Water.

Local residents are encouraged to participate by dropping off medications for proper disposal at one of the 11 Hamilton County area locations. There are also three sites in Bradley County, one in Marion County and one in Polk County. Sites in bold will have document shredders available for personal documents such as tax information or medical records.

“Properly disposing of medication reduces the chance of teenage experimentation and overdose. We encourage residents to take advantage of the drug take back day by simply driving to one of the locations and dropping off medication with no questions asked,” said Camilla Bibbs, Executive Director of the Hamilton County Coalition.

Sites in Hamilton County:
Walgreens in Hixson - 5478 TN Highway 153
Walgreens in East Brainerd - 2289 Gunbarrel Rd
Walgreens in Northshore – 110 North Market St
Mt. Canaan Baptist Church– 4801 HWY 58
Red Bank Food City - 3901 Dayton Blvd
Signal Mtn. Police Dept. -1111 Ridgeway Ave
Walgreens in Brainerd - 3605 Brainerd Rd
Walgreens in East Ridge - 5301 Ringgold Rd
Walgreens in Ooltewah - 9307 County Hwy
Walgreens in St. Elmo – 3550 Broad Street
Walgreens in Soddy Daisy – 121 Harrison Ln

Sites in Bradley County:
Walgreens in Cleveland – 35 25^th Street, Cleveland
Cleveland Police Department - 10 Church Street, NE
Bradley County Sheriff’s Office – 2290 Blythe Ave., SE

Site in Polk County:
First Baptist Church – 2498 Parksville Rd, Benton

Site in Marion County:
Whitwell Police Department
1361 TN-28, Whitwell

The program has positive community and environmental benefits. Having unused or expired medications in the home can lead to medication errors, accidental overdoses, or inappropriate use/abuse. In a well-intentioned effort to avoid these problems, many people flush unwanted medications down the toilet as a means of disposal. However, flushing medications means that traces of these drugs eventually end up back in the environment.

Along with Tennessee American Water, other sponsors for the Drug Take Back are:
Bradley County Sheriff’s Office
Chattanooga Police Department
City of Chattanooga
Drug Enforcement Administration
East Ridge Police Department
Hamilton County Coalition
Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office
Red Bank Police Department
Signal Mountain Police Department
Soddy Daisy Police Department
Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance’s Division of Consumer Affairs
Tennessee Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation
TDOT
Walgreens
Whitwell Police Department

ABOUT TENNESSEE AMERICAN WATER

Tennessee American Water, a subsidiary of American Water (NYSE: AWK), is the largest investor-owned water utility in the state, providing high-quality and reliable water services to approximately 390,000 people in Tennessee and northern Georgia. American Water is the largest and most geographically diverse publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company. Marking its 130 ^th anniversary this year, the company employs more than 6,700 dedicated professionals who provide regulated and market-based drinking water, wastewater and other related services to an estimated 15 million people in 47 states and Ontario, Canada. More information can be found by visiting www.tennesseeamwater.com .

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