Over a Ton of Unused, Unwanted, and Expired Medicine are Collected as part of AMCC
11/17/2010
11/17/2010
According to Jeff Bond, Senior Vice President for State Government Affairs at PhRMA, an AMCC founding sponsor, "With prescription drug abuse on the rise, it is important to have safe solutions for consumer disposal of unused medicines in their own home or through a community program in order to avoid the possibility that someone steals or misuses that medication."
American College of Emergency Physicians president, Sandra Schneider, MD, FACEP, also an AMCC sponsor said, "Prescription drugs are the most abused drugs in America other than marijuana, and parents are the first line of defense between kids and the prescription medications."
AMCC is also being supported by the Partnership at DrugFree.org, Generic Pharmaceutical Association, the Healthcare Institute of New Jersey, the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, the New Jersey Prevention Network, and the Consumer Healthcare Products Association. The parent organization of AMCC is thePartnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey.
AMCC is based on the success of the nationally recognized Operation Medicine Cabinet New Jersey (OMC-NJ). OMC-NJ was the first in the nation statewide day of disposal, held in November 2009 with a one day, four-hour, state-wide event that netted over 9,000 lbs. of medicine, with a street value of over $35 million, while simultaneously garnering over a million dollars in in-kind media attention on the issue of prescription and over the counter drug abuse. The program was recognized in the 2010 Drug Strategy of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and the National Association of Government Communicators.
The November 2011 American Medicine Chest Challenge is currently being planned.
###