FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS RELEASE
July 16, 2018
For More Information, contact:
Mike Lewis (334) 353-2199
Steve Marshall
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
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Alabama Attorney General
Contact: Erin Britt 401-318-3962
AG STEVE MARSHALL, CVS HEALTH ANNOUNCE SAFE
DRUG DISPOSAL PROGRAM IN ALABAMA
(MONTGOMERY) – Attorney General Steve Marshall joined with CVS Health Chief
Policy and External Affairs Officer Thomas Moriarty, Jefferson County Sheriff Mike
Hale, Homewood Mayor Scott McBrayer and Homewood Police Chief Tim Ross today
to announce a safe medication disposal program in Alabama.
CVS Health has provided in-store drug disposal units at five of its stores in Alabama
and also has equipped 36 law enforcement agencies with on-site disposal units to
provide a regularly available means for people to properly discard unused medications.
“It is extremely dangerous to keep unused prescription drugs on hand when they are
no longer needed,” said Attorney General Marshall. “Many of these are controlled
substances, and opioids in particular can bring tragic results. We have had tremendous
success with Drug Take-Back days in Alabama and these permanent collection sites
provided by CVS Health are a valuable asset because now there is a way for people to
safely dispose of drugs year-round.”
Alabama ranks first in the nation for the number of painkiller prescriptions per capita,
and Attorney General Marshall has made fighting opioid abuse a cornerstone of his
administration. He serves as co-chair of the Alabama Opioid Overdose and Addiction
Council which issued a comprehensive action plan last December. In February of this
year he filed a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma for the harm caused by its reckless
marketing and sales of opioids.
“CVS Health is dedicated to addressing and preventing opioid abuse in the
communities we serve in Alabama and across the country,” said Moriarty. “Expanding
our safe medication disposal program to CVS Pharmacy locations in Alabama is one of
the many initiatives we support to fulfill that commitment and our purpose of helping
people on their path to better health.”
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501 Washington Avenue * Montgomery, AL 36104 * (334) 242-7300
www.ago.state.al.us Page 2 of 2
Homewood Mayor Scott McBrayer said, “I would like to thank CVS Health for
choosing Homewood to officially launch their safe drug disposal program in Alabama.
Keeping unused prescription drugs off the streets and out of the hands of those who
might be harmed by them requires a team effort. Pharmacies, law enforcement and
every citizen has a key role to play. I appreciate CVS Health for taking steps to reduce
the likelihood of accidental poisoning and drug abuse in our community by making it
easy to dispose of unused and expired medicines while shopping at our local CVS
Pharmacy.”
Homewood Police Chief Tim Ross said, “Drug abuse is an attack on every city that
crosses all ethnic, age and economic backgrounds. One source of dangerous and
addictive drugs is expired and forgotten prescription drugs left in home medicine
cabinets. These unused drugs too often wind up in the hands of children or are sold on
the streets. For this reason, we too have a drug disposal unit located in the lobby of the
Homewood Police Department. Our headquarters is located at 1833 29th Avenue South
in downtown Homewood. This disposal unit is accessible to the public 24 hours-a-day,
7-days-a-week. I am grateful to CVS Health for educating the public that they can make
a difference by also dropping off old prescriptions for safe disposal at the CVS
Pharmacy on West Valley Avenue in Homewood.”
In-store disposal units are available at certain CVS Pharmacy locations in Homewood,
Birmingham, Russellville and Alabaster. In addition, CVS Health has provided
collection units to law enforcement agencies in Anniston, Ardmore, Calera, Calhoun
County, Helena, Cullman, Decatur, Demopolis, Florence, Fort Payne, Franklin County,
Fultondale, Gardendale, Hartselle, Huntsville, Irondale, Jacksonville, Lanett, Lee
County, Lineville, Mobile County, Shelby County and Vestavia Hills.
Law enforcement can partner with CVS to locate drug disposal units within their
facilities. For more information on this program and to apply, visit this web link:
https://m.cvs.com/content/prescription-drug-abuse/law-enforcement
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