Grey Bruce Public Health will be dropping the puck on another campaign with the Owen Sound Attack and Rexall Pharma Plus, aimed at raising community awareness about how to safely dispose of expired and unused pills, tablets, and other medications.

This year’s ‘Attacking Medication Misuse’ campaign is set to begin Friday, Nov. 21.

During the campaign, people who drop off old or no-longer-needed prescription or over-the-counter medication at Rexall Pharma Plus at 963 2nd Ave. E. in Owen Sound can receive a voucher for a free ticket to any regular-season Owen Sound Attack home game.

The campaign is slated to run until Nov. 28, 2025, or until all free-ticket vouchers are claimed, whichever is sooner.

“The goal of this campaign is to remind residents to always return old and unused prescription drugs and over-the-counter medicine to their local pharmacy for safe disposal,” says Monica Blair, Manager of GBPH’s Harm Reduction Program.

“All pharmacies accept old or unused medications year-round to ensure they are disposed of properly, safely, and will not get into the wrong hands.” 

Leaving old medications in medicine cabinets or cupboards can have unintended and potentially serious consequences. Trends suggest rising rates of recreational misuse of prescription drugs by youth, who often obtain these drugs from family medicine cabinets and friends. In addition, people may inadvertently take expired prescription medications if these drugs are not promptly removed from medicine cabinets. This can cause potentially dangerous interactions with other medications.

Pharmaceuticals can also be harmful to the environment if not disposed of properly. Public Health urges people not to flush medicines down the toilet or toss them in the trash.

When returning expired or unused medication to a pharmacy, residents will be asked to put pills and tablets into a supplied paper bag and remove personal information from containers with prescription creams or liquids.

People who participate in the ‘Attacking Medication Misuse’ campaign will be asked to fill out a form at Rexall Pharma Plus to indicate what medication they are returning. This data will be collected by Public Health for reporting purposes, in accordance with applicable privacy requirements. No personal information is collected from the pharmacy or Grey Bruce Public Health.