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CAPE FEAR MEMORIAL BRIDGE CLOSURE: UPDATES, RESOURCES, AND CONTEXT

NC Residents can Drop Off Old Meds

North Carolinians can get rid of their old prescription medications at more than 200 drop-off events across the state next week.

WHQR’s Michelle Bliss reports that more than 8 million doses of drugs were collected at last year’s Operation Medicine Drop events, including controlled substances like Fentanyl patches.

Approximately 1,000 people died in North Carolina last year from overdosing on prescription drugs. Some of the most commonly abused prescription and over-the-counter drugs include painkillers, anti-anxiety drugs, stimulants, and cough and cold medicines.

State Attorney General Roy Cooper says that safely disposing of old medications can keep legal, but potentially lethal, drugs out of the hands of young people who may abuse them.

The drop-off events are hosted by the state bureau of investigation, local law enforcement agencies, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and a group called Safe Kids North Carolina.

After growing up in Woodbridge, Virginia, Michelle attended Virginia Tech before moving to Wilmington to complete her Master in Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina in Wilmington. Her reporting and nonfiction writing have been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered, within the pages of Wrightsville Beach Magazine, and in literary journals like River Teeth and Ninth Letter. Before moving to Wilmington, Michelle served as the general manager for WUVT, a community radio station in Blacksburg, Virginia. She lives with her husband Scott and their pups, Katie, Cooper, and Mosey.