Staff from the B.O.L.D. (Building Our Lives Drug-free) Coalition were on hand for the National Prescription Medication Take-back event held on April 27, 2013 at Walsh Parmacy on Rock Street. Sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA of US Dept. of Justice), the Fall River Police Department, Stanley Street Treatment and Resources, and the B.O.L.D. Coalition, the event was a collaborative effort to remove potentially dangerous controlled substances from household medicine cabinets. The event, sponsored by Saint Anne's Hospital, gave anyone who wanted to the opportunity to turn in expired, unwanted or unused prescription medications for safe disposal. Ten dollar gift certificates, good at their Farmers' Market, were given out to the first 130 contributors. Such medications are often taken by young people who are unaware of the risks of potential serious harm that they pose. The majority of both teens and young adults obtain abused drugs from friends and relatives. BOLD is interested in getting all types of medication out of the hands of young people. Click here for the Herald News article. Click here for a similar event that BOLD sponsored last year. For more information, call BOLD staff director Craig Gaspard at 508-324-3537. (Photos courtesy of Lindsay Hetzler) 

(Top row. left and center) Over 200 people who lined up on Rock Street in front of Walsh Parmacy to bring expired, unwanted or unused prescription medication for disposal. (Top row, right) Debra Paulino of Saint Anne's/Steward Healthcare greets people as they come in. (Middle row) Julie Charest of the BOLD Coalition works with Ms. Paulino as they receive expired medication in exchange for a gift certificate. (Bottom row) Expired medicaiton in placed in boxes for disposal by the Drug Enforcement Administration.