Grey Bruce Public Health is launching a campaign to educate people on how to dispose of old or expired medicine.
The Attacking Medication Misuse Campaign with the Owen Sound Attack and Rexall Pharma will begin on Friday.
The campaign aims to raise awareness about how to safety get rid of expired and unused pills, tablets and other medications.
People who drop off old or unused prescriptions or over-the-counter medication at Rexall Pharma Plus at 963 2nd Avenue East in Owen Sound during the campaign, can receive a voucher for a free ticket to any regular season Owen Sound Attack home game.
The campaign will run until Nov. 28, or until all the ticket vouchers are gone.
Grey Bruce Public Health’s Manager of the Harm Reduction Program Monica Blair says, “The goal of this campaign is to remind residents to always return old and unused prescription drugs and over-the-counter medicine to their local pharmacy for safe disposal.”
She adds all pharmacies accept old or unused medications year-round to ensure they are disposed of properly and safely.
Public Health says leaving old medications and medicine at home can have unintended and potentially serious consequences.
Trends suggest there is a rising rate of recreational misuse of prescription drugs by youth, which public health says can be often found from family medicine cabinets.
Additionally, expired pills can have potentially dangerous effects when mixed with other medications.
Public health encourages people to not flush medicines down the toilet or toss them in the trash as they can be harmful to the environment when not disposed of properly.
Those who participate in the campaign will be asked to identify what medication they are returning for public health reporting purposes.