Next Saturday is the Time to Shed the Meds

The Community Ambulance Company of Sayville is hosting a Shed the Meds program on Saturday, December 7 that will provide residents with the opportunity to dispose of unused or expired medications.
 
Non-medical use of prescription and over-the-counter medicines remains a significant part of the drug problem here on Long Island, according to a press statement from the ambulance company. 

According to data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, over 50 percent of people who abuse prescription drugs for nonmedical reasons obtained them from friends or relatives with permission and for free. Unwanted or expired medications left in the home could increase opportunities for drug abuse, drug diversion, and accidental poisonings.

Members of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department will be available to assist and answer any questions residents may have. In addition, the South Shore Community Organization and the YES Prevention Program in the Town of Islip will provide drug prevention education pamphlets to those in attendance.

The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 pm. at the ambulance headquarters at 146 Railroad Avenue in Sayville.

The members of the Community Ambulance Company have responded to over 160 overdose calls, with 138 of those calls being local to Bayport, Bohemia, Oakdale, Sayville, and West Sayville.

"Unfortunately our volunteers see the horrible end results of drug abuse in the overdose patients we transport to the hospital,” said Community Ambulance Company Chief Jamie Atkinson. “We hope that the Shed the Meds initiative will decrease the amount of drugs available that have the potential to fall into the wrong hands,”