Fulton County Unveils Drug Disposal Box

dispose rx

NEWS RELEASE ǀ OFFICE OF VICE CHAIRMAN BOB ELLIS

 

Media Contact:
Renee Starzyk
Office of Vice Chairman Bob Ellis
Fulton County Board of Commissioners
141 Pryor St.  Atlanta, GA  30303
Office:  404-612-8219
renee1.starzyk@fultoncountyga.gov

 

Fulton County Unveils Drug Disposal Box
in Union City

70% of drug abusers find medications at home

 WHAT:        News Conference

 WHEN:       10:30 a.m., Monday, September 25, 2017

WHERE:      Union City Police Department
5060 Union St, Union City, GA 30291

WHO:

  • Bob Ellis, Fulton County Commission Vice Chairman
  • Chief Cassandra Jones, Union City Police Department
  • Mayor Vince Williams, Union City
  • Jan Gorniak, Fulton County Medical Examiner
  • Kate Boccia, mother and founder of the National Incarceration Association
  • Union City church leaders

DETAILS:

Fulton County Vice Chairman Bob Ellis will wrap up a month-long effort to educate the community about the growing heroin/opioid epidemic with the unveiling of a new drug disposal box at the Union City police department.

The box was provided FREE from the Save A Star Drug Awareness Foundation founded by David and Gail Katz who lost their son to a prescription drug overdose. Additional boxes will be added across the county in the months ahead.

  • Opioid-related deaths in Fulton County are up more than 150% since 2010
  • Up to 70 percent of drug abusers get pain killers from medicine cabinets of their parents and grandparents
  • Fulton County collected nearly 390 pounds of unwanted medicines last year, up nearly 50% from 2015
  • Every day 2,500 teens use prescription drugs for non-medical use for the first time
  • Teens abuse prescription drugs more than any illicit street drug except marijuana
  • 3 out of 4 heroin users reported first abusing prescription drugs

For more information, please feel free to call Renee Starzyk, Commissioner Ellis’ Director of Communications, at 404-593-8502.