District residents have until the end of March to participate for a chance to win in the local seniors’ coalition’s third-annual “Medicine Cabinet Cleanout Contest.”
The purpose of the contest, sponsored by the New Horizons for Seniors Programing, is to encourage people to safely dispose of their medicine so that it’s not used after its best before date, used by someone who’s not supposed to take it, or improperly goes into the environment.
Public health nurse Becky Holden said last week it seems the contest response so far has been somewhat less than last year, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“This is our third year doing it, so hopefully people are finally regularly getting rid of their medicine instead of storing it for years and years,” she remarked.
Here’s how the contest works. Throughout March, just take all the medications you have cleaned out of your medicine cabinet back to your local pharmacy for safe and free disposal.
Participating pharmacies include the Fort Frances Clinic Dispensary, Pharmasave Downtown, the Canada Safeway pharmacy, Shoppers Drug Mart, the Wal-Mart pharmacy, and Emo Drugs.
When you drop off your drugs at one of these locations, you’ll be entered in a draw to win a prize (i.e., gift certificates from participating businesses).
Prizes also will be awarded to the person who brings in the largest quantity of medication and the one who drops off the oldest medication overall.
Holden noted while these two prizes haven’t been purchased yet, they definitely will be bigger than the gift certificates.
To qualify for the contest, the medications can be prescriptions that have expired or you no longer need to take, as well as old or expired non-prescription medications, including cough/cold medicine, pain relief drugs, first-aid substances, vitamins, and herbal products.
While the contest itself may only run for the month, all area pharmacies will accept old medications people bring in year-round.
The medication is put into a special container, which is picked up and disposed of by an environmental company.
This disposal prevents medication from getting into the ground and, ultimately, municipal drinking water supplies.
Proper disposal also helps prevent theft of prescription drugs, which then may be abused by those for whom it is not meant.
For more information about the “Medicine Cabinet Cleanout Contest,” call Holden at 274-9827.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
