Fulton County Unveils Drug Disposal Box

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.