MSMAA offers safe place for opioid and medication drop off

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Mississippi State Medical Association Alliance will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new Med Return Drug Collection Unit placement in Hattiesburg Clinic Wednesday.

"The box will be used to collect unneeded prescription and non-prescription over the county medications that patients wish to properly dispose of in the community,” said MSMAA President, Heather Rifkin.

When people properly dispose of their medication there is a smaller chance of abuse and misuse of both opioids and regular prescription medications.

“We can take any prescription, over-the-counter medications, samples from your doctor, even veterinary medicines. We cannot accept any needle or sharp related items. Any inhalers, aerosol products, creams, liquids those are probably not a good idea,”

Rifkin’s team will give away free medicine safety accessories to patients who attend the ribbon cutting ceremony for the med return box – including the safer lock prescription bottle.

“[It] is a safety mechanism that you can keep in your own home. You make your own personal four digit code. You can change that code at any time should you feel that someone has figured out your code,”

The ribbon cutting ceremony is at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, April 11, at the Hattiesburg Clinic.