Tennessee American Water announces the fall Drug Take Back in Hamilton County this Saturday from 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., with the addition of several new locations to make it even more convenient for residents. According to organizers, the purpose of the event is to keep drugs out of the environment and off of the streets. Three of the locations will include document shredders.
Local residents are encouraged to drive up and drop off their old medications – prescriptions or over-the-counter -- for proper disposal at one of the 11 Hamilton County area locations.
Sites in bold will have document shredders available for personal documents such as tax information or medical records:
Hixson Walgreens - 5478 TN Hwy. 153
East Brainerd Walgreens - 2289 Gunbarrel Road
Mt. Cannan Baptist Church– 4801 Hwy. 58
East Chattanooga Improvement - 1502 McCallie Ave.
Red Bank Food City (Formerly Bi-Lo) - 3901 Dayton Blvd.
Signal Mtn. Police Dept. -796 Ridgeway Ave.
Brainerd Walgreens - 3605 Brainerd Road
East Ridge Walgreens - 5301 Ringgold Road
Northshore Walgreens - 110 North Market St.
Ooltewah Walgreens - 9307 County Hwy.
Rossville Walgreens – 4810 Rossville Blvd.
"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," officials said. "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. 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."