The 8th Annual National Drug Take Back will be held on Saturday, April 30, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
"The purpose of this event is to keep drugs out of the environment and off of our streets," officials said.
Four of the locations will also include document shredders provided by the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, Division of Consumer Affairs.
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.
There are also two sites in Bradley County. The first four sites will have document shredders available for personal documents such as tax information or medical records:
Walgreens in Hixson - 5478 Tn. Hwy. 153
Walgreens in East Brainerd - 2289 Gunbarrel Road
Walgreens in Northshore – 110 North Market St.
Mt. Cannan Baptist Church– 4801 HWY 58
Red Bank Food City (Formerly Bi-Lo) - 3901 Dayton Blvd.
Signal Mtn. Police Dept. -1111 Ridgeway Ave.
Walgreens in Brainerd - 3605 Brainerd Road
Walgreens in East Ridge - 5301 Ringgold Road
Walgreens in Ooltewah - 9307 County Hwy.
Walgreens in Rossville – 4810 Rossville Blvd.
Walgreens in Soddy Daisy – 121 Harrison Ln.
Walgreens in Cleveland – 2399 McGrady Dr., SE
Cleveland Police Department - 100 Church St., NE
"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," officials said.
“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.
"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.
“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.
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; Tennessee Bureau of Investigation; and Walgreens.