Stores participate in drug take back

In an effort to keep drugs out of the water supply and out of the wrong hands, Friends of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River is partnering with area pharmacies to take back unwanted medicine.

Mt. Jackson Drug Store, New Market Pharmacy, Peoples Drug Store in Edinburg and Strasburg, Walton & Smoot Pharmacy in Woodstock, Timberville Drug Store and Broadway Drug Center will have boxes to accept the medicines starting Tuesday, according to Leslie D. Mitchell-Watson, executive director of the river support group.

They will take back non-narcotic prescriptions and over-the-counter medications, a news release for the organization says. The Shenandoah County Sheriff's Office and other law-enforcement agencies have periodic disposal days for controlled narcotics, it says.

The Shenandoah Community Foundation is helping with the project, the release says.

The purpose of the program is to prevent drug abuse and environmental contamination.

"When drugs are flushed down the toilet or poured down the sink, they pass through waste water treatment plants and end up in our rivers and groundwater, which are our primary sources of drinking water," the release says.

For more information, call Mitchell-Watson at 459-8550, or visit www.fnfsr.org.