The Medford Township Police will be hosting an Operation Take Back, a local collection site as part of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Operation Take Back medicine disposal day.
The event will take place at the Medford Township Public Safety Building, located at 91 Union Street in Medford, between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 29. This initiative, open to all residents, was organized to encourage local community residents to properly dispose of their unused, unwanted and expired medicine anonymously.
“As a police department, one of our primary goals is to help keep our community members safe. As part of this goal, we have once again partnered with the DEA to help eliminate homes of potentially harmful prescription drugs,” Medford Police Chief Richard Meder stated.
Last April, Americans turned in 552,161 pounds, or 276 tons, of prescription drugs at over 5,600 sites operated by the DEA and nearly 4,300 state and local law enforcement partners. In its four previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners took in over 1.5 million pounds — nearly 775 tons — of pills.
This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the United States are alarmingly high- more Americans currently abuse prescription drugs than the number of those using cocaine, hallucinogens, and heroin combined, according to the 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Studies show that individuals that abuse prescription drugs often obtained them from family and friends, including the home medicine cabinet. In addition, many Americans do not know how to properly dispose of their unused medicine, often flushing them down the toilet or throwing them away- both potential safety and health hazards.
Additional information, and other collection sites can be found by visiting www.dea.gov, and clicking on the “Got Drugs?” banner.
