The Evesham Township Police Department is participating in “Operation Take Back New Jersey” on Saturday, April 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The department will be providing the public with a safe and legal method to dispose of unwanted, unused and expired medicines, the mission of the Drug Enforcement Administration Division Operation Take Back NJ.
Each year, experts say, a growing number of teenagers quietly turn to a seemingly unlikely source to score drugs — their parents’ medicine cabinets.
According to the most recent studies, Monitoring the Future, University of Michigan, between 1997 and 2007, treatment admissions for prescription painkillers increased more than 400 percent. In addition, between 2004 and 2008, the number of visits to hospital emergency department involving the non-medical use of narcotic painkillers increased 111 percent.
DEA NJ Division is launching this initiative on Saturday, April 28 called “Operation Take Back New Jersey.”
This program will afford New Jersey residents the opportunity to rid their homes of their unused, unwanted and expired medicine.
Several New Jersey county prescription drug abuse task forces and focus groups have recognized the need for efficient, secure, and environmentally sound methods to collect and dispose of unused, unwanted, and expired medicine.
The goal of the program is to allow citizens to deliver medications to law enforcement officials who can in turn dispose of these controlled substances in a safe and non-hazardous manner, preventing these pills from falling into the hands of juveniles or into the illicit market in our communities.
Operation Take Back New Jersey’s website, www.operationtakebacknj.com will identify participating police departments, collection sites,
and other program information. Prevention and treatment
organizations may be contacting their local police departments to lend their support for this initiative.
