PLUMSTED — The Plumsted Police Department will be coordinating the American Medicine Chest Challenge in the community.
According to a press release, the event will take place on Nov. 13 in communities across the country. This initiative will challenge Plumsted residents to take the fivestep American Medicine Chest Challenge:
• Take inventory of your prescription and over-the-counter medicine.
• Lock your medicine chest.
• Dispose of unused, unwanted and expired medicine in your home or at an American Medicine Chest Challenge disposal site.
• Take your medicine(s) exactly as prescribed.
• Talk to your children about the dangers of prescription drug abuse.
Residents can find a local collection site on the Internet at www.americanmedicinechestchallenge. com or dispose of their medicine at home, following the guidelines on the website.
According to the press release, the most recent national survey on drug use and health shows prescription medicines to be the most abused drugs by Americans, other than marijuana, and found that 70 percent of people who abuse prescription pain relievers say they got them from friends or relatives.
A recent study on drug use by teenagers by the Partnership for a Drug Free America found that one in nine children are abusing prescription pain relievers to get high, according to the press release.
“This challenge will raise awareness about the dangers of abusing prescription drugs and reduce the availability of potent drugs that lead kids down a path to addiction,” said American Medicine Chest Challenge Chief Executive Officer Angelo M. Valente.
“With the American Medicine Chest Challenge, we are calling on residents to see their medicine cabinets through new eyes — as an access point for potential misuse and abuse of over-the-counter and prescription medicine by young people,” Valente said.