drug safety initiatives

medication drop boxes

Safely dispose of unused medication at one of 5 permanent drug drop boxes. We encourage you to leave medication in the original prescription bottle for the purpose of identifying the type of medication (please MARK OUT personal information on the label).

medication take back days

Each year, the Mitchell Yancey Substance Abuse Take Force MYSATF collaborates with local law enforcement, local pharmacies and pharmacists, and task force volunteers to collect unwanted/unused prescription medication from community members. Over 500,000 pills were collected from 2010 to 2013, and 466 additional pounds of drugs were collected from 2014-2016. Stay tuned for more information about this year’s event!

medication lock boxes & disposal systems

Did you know that 70% of youth who misuse prescription drugs admit to getting them from family or friends? To date, MYSATF has distributed medication lock boxes to more than 1000 individuals, physicians, senior centers, and churches FREE OF CHARGE to residents of Mitchell and Yancey counties.

MYSATF also distributes FREE medication disposal systems which safely deactivate old/unused medications and distributes pre-addressed/pre-paid envelopes for safe medication destruction. If you are a Mitchell or Yancey county resident interested in obtaining a medication lock box or other medication disposal items, please contact Jessica Zucchino (Program Manager) at 828.682.7899 or jessica@pathwnc.org.