MTSU collects more than 92 pounds of unwanted medications

Dominic Cooper was one of dozens of MTSU employees and area residents bringing their old, unwanted medical prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs to campus Thursday, April 20.

It was for the annual MTSU Drug Take-Back Day, a 5½-hour collection held adjacent to the Student Health, Wellness and Recreation Center on the east side of campus.

Campus Pharmacy’s Tabby Ragland accepts unwanted prescription drugs from Don Daniel April 20 at the collection site adjacent to the Student Health, Wellness and Recreation Center. (MTSU photos by J. Intintoli)

It was part of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s overall national efforts to remove excess drugs from communities where they could be abused or misused, diverted into the wrong hands or disposed of in environmentally unsafe ways.

By the end of the collection period, MTSU officials collected 92.2 pounds — a 20 percent increase from fall 2016.

A relatively new MTSU employee, Cooper said it was his first time to bring his unwanted medications to the university.

“I have been trying to get rid of these,” said Cooper, a West Tennessee admissions counselor in the Office of Admissions. “I would rather they be in safe hands than at my house sitting in the bathroom medicine cabinet.”

Cooper said one of his medicines was prescribed for him after dental work, but he really did not need it because he’s “good with pain.”

Assisting Campus Pharmacy director Tabby Ragland and Health Promotions director Lisa Schrader in the spring collection were Lipscomb University College of Pharmacy doctoral students Kara Stockdale and Kaylee Cerminara. Both are from Nashville.

The drug take-back event is a joint venture between the pharmacy and Campus Police.

— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)

MTSU pharmacist Tabby Ragland, foreground, and Lipscomb University College of Pharmacy doctoral students Kaylee Cerminara, left, and Kara Stockdale, inspect medications collected during the April 20 MTSU Drug Take-Back Day next to the Student Health, Wellness and Recreation Center. (MTSU photo by J. Intintoli)