Medford Police holding prescription drug drop off on Saturday.
The Medford Township Police in cooperation with the Drug Enforcement Agency will give the public its ninth opportunity in four years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. The event will take place at the Medford Township Public Safety Building between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 27. Only pills or patches will be accepted, no liquids, needles or sharps. The service is free and anonymous.
Medford Police Chief Richard Meder said, “As a police department, one of our primary goals is to help keep our community members safe. In keeping with this goal, we have partnered with the Drug Enforcement Administration for the ninth time in four years to help eliminate homes of potentially harmful prescription drugs.”
Last April, Americans turned in 390 tons of prescription drugs at nearly 6,100 sites operated by the DEA and more than 4,400 of its state and local law enforcement partners. When those results are combined with what was collected in its eight previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in over 4.1 million pounds 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, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines, such as flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash, both pose potential safety and health hazards.
The DEA is in the process of approving new regulations that implement the Safe and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010, which amends the Controlled Substances Act to allow an “ultimate user” of controlled substance medications to dispose of them by delivering them to entities authorized by the Attorney General to accept them. The act also allows the Attorney General to authorize long term care facilities to dispose of their residents’ controlled substances in certain instances.
