Arrowhead High School will be hosting a pill drop on May 13, 2016, from 6:30 AM to 6:30 PM at the Mullet Ice Center. Anyone who is 18 years or older may drop off any unwanted medication, so that it can be properly handled or disposed.

The purpose of the pill drop is to prevent misuse of any drugs or medication, to keep the environment clean and safe.

This year’s pill drop is being hosted by Arrowhead’s Medical Terminology and Business Practice classes. The two adult head coordinators of the event are retired business education teacher Annete LeMieux and current business education teacher Laura Miller.

LeMieux says, “These [prescription and nonprescription] medications are dangerous to keep around the house where young children and/or teenagers can find them.  Unfortunately, over 70% of teenagers that do abuse prescription drugs find them in their own homes or take them from their own families or friends.”

Students of Arrowhead’s Medical Terminology and Business Practice classes will work the event completing tasks such as greeting the community, taking surveys, and assisting the Hartland police department in the sorting of medications as well as the removal of labels.

LeMiex says, “The Pill Drop was created in order to give people of the Hartland community a place to dispose of their prescription and nonprescription medications in a safe way. If drugs are not properly disposed of, the environment can be contaminated. Pills flushed down the toilet can pollute the water supply. Medications can end up in landfills when thrown away and can poison wildlife if they are ingested. Most importantly we want to help insure that these medications do not end up in the wrong hands, too often the hands of young people.”

Some medications collected will be donated to organizations in need. Other medications will be properly disposed of, in a manner that protects the environment and the community.

“Our goal each year is to collect more pounds of medication than we did the previous year. Our goal to beat this year is 440 pounds,” says LeMieux.

Arrowhead Sophomore, Marisa Bova, is a current student in a Medical Terminology class at Arrowhead.

Bova says in Medical Terminology students, “watch videos to helps us learn and gain understanding on medical terminology, and in the future we will be working with patients in the wellness center by performing basic procedures”

Bova believes that the pill drop is important “Because people do not properly dispose of medications that can be abused if found or are not fully filtered from our water supply.”