A longtime friend and mentor to Middle Tennessee State University Campus Pharmacy Pharmacist Tabby Ragland kicked off the fall Drug-Vape Take-Back Day on Wednesday, Oct. 22, in a big way.

Retired Upjohn Pharmacist Terry Deason, of Murfreesboro, nearly filled one-half of a large bin when she “dropped off a whole bunch of things,” said Ragland, overseeing the event near the Campus Pharmacy drive-thru next to the Campus Recreation Center. “There had been a death in the family, and she brought three separate containers.”

People in the Murfreesboro and MTSU communities left nearly 46 total pounds of prescription drugs (23.7 pounds), over-the-counter medications (9.9 pounds), controlled substances (1.1 pounds) and 69 vapes (12.1 pounds) during the 5½- hour drive, Ragland said.

About 20 people dropped off items during the first hour, said Master Police Officer Leroy Carter, whose MTSU Police Department once again partnered with Campus Pharmacy for the collection of old, unused medications and other items, including an inhaler not used in years. 

“We had a great turnout before 8 (o’clock),” Ragland said. “Most of them were people on their way to work.”

One of them was Deason, “who has always been a mentor to me,” Ragland said.

Another was Lana Adkins, of Murfreesboro, who, along with daughter Ella Adkins, an MTSU junior chemistry major, brought “a couple of old prescriptions. We were cleaning out our medicine cabinets,” Ella Adkins said.

Lana Adkins said it was their first time to contribute to the drug take-back event.

Assisting with the drive were fourth-year Lipscomb University pharmacy student Sydney Campbell, of Athens, Alabama, and December 2024 MTSU psychology graduate Morgan Verdeck, a staff member with Murfreesboro-based Prevention Coalition for Success.

MTSU’s event was held in coordination with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s national Drug Take-Back Day events that provided a convenient, confidential, and environmentally friendly way to get rid of unwanted and unused medications, prescriptions, over-the-counter meds, supplements, nicotine devices and veterinary medicines.

Ragland said they collected several vet meds.

That event is sponsored by the Prevention Coalition for Success with help from the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Strategies and Tactics for Opioid Prevention team.