By Anthony J. Machcinski
It is no surprise that prescription drug usage has risen in America over the past few years. According to a federal Center for Disease Control 2008 study, over 2.3 billion drugs were ordered or provided to patients nationwide and that number was expected to climb in future years.
With that in mind, law enforcement officials have taken steps in order to prevent the abuse of these prescription drugs.
Operation Take Back is an initiative by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to discard expired, unwanted, and unused medications. Many local area towns are participating this month in the semi-annual event including Kearny, Harrison, North Arlington, Lyndhurst, Nutley and Bloomfield.
“We take any unused prescriptions, everything except for needles,” explained Kearny Police Patrolman John Corbett. “We’ve taken everything from unused prescriptions to basic over-the-counter stuff.”
The DEA launched the program two years ago as a national effort to curb prescription drug abuse.
“They started this program because you find prescription abuse comes from having pills in your house. This helps just in case you have someone who is addicted to medications,” Corbett said, adding that it also helps people dispose of the medication the right way instead of throwing it out or flushing it down the toilet.
Last October, Kearny Police collected over 100 pounds of unused prescriptions while nationally the DEA collected over 188.5 tons.
The fourth semi-annual event will take place on Saturday, April 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at several area locations including the Kearny and Harrison Police Stations as well as H&B Pharmacy in North Arlington and the Mobile Command Post in Lyndhurst.
One benefit of the program is the no-stress method for tossing medications, described by Corbett as a “drop-and-go” sort of operation.
“It’s no questions asked, no identification needed,” Corbett said. “We have a box set up right by the door. We’re just there for security reasons.”
Only one request is made of participants: remove personal information from the prescription bottle.
Once handed into Kearny Police, the police turn it over to the DEA, who then perform a controlled burn of all the narcotics.
To get more information about Operation Take Back, go to http://www.justice.gov/dea/.
