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Do you have expired prescriptions in your medicine or kitchen cabinets? What about that prescription you never quite finished, is it in a bathroom vanity drawer or on your bedroom night stand?

 On Saturday, April 27 from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Tellico Villagers will have a chance to turn in their expired and unused prescriptions at the Welcome Center. Needles, prescription liquids and syringes will not be accepted.

 This first local “Take Back Day” is jointly sponsored by the Tellico Community Foundation along with the Prevention Alliance of Loudon County and Align9. The United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) sponsors the overall event nationally. Last fall, Americans turned in nearly 460 tons (more than 900,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at more than 5,800 DEA sponsored sites.

 The objective of the event is to provide a safe, convenient location to dispose of opioids and other medications and to raise awareness about the potential risks of abusing drugs.

Residents will also be receiving information from “Count it! Lock it! Drop it!” which is an initiative funded in part by the BlueCross Blue Shield of Tennessee Health Foundation that works to empower and educate individuals on how they can prevent prescription drug misuse.

 Villagers can drop off their unwanted drugs at the Welcome Center at 202 Chota Road. The take back activity will be supervised by local law enforcement officials. Representatives from the Tellico Village Lions Club will be on hand to retrieve the discarded pill bottles. The Lions club removed the labels, so you don't have to. The Lions Club has been engaged in recovering plastic containers used to store medical type products, vitamins and OTC drugs. The collected containers are then sent to an organization in Ohio which repurposes them for prescription use in third world countries.

 Additional background on the Tellico Community Foundation can be found at: https://www.tellicolife.org/tellico-community-foundation. For more information on Take Back Day visit: https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/. The link for the “Count it! Lock it! Drop it!” initiative is: https://countitlockitdropit.org/. Information on Align9 can be accessed at: http://www.align9.org.