On Saturday, Oct. 24, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will provide the public the opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous, expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs during National Drug Take Back Day.
Pills can be brought to three locations to be disposed of: The Bethune Center at 140 MLK Drive in Jersey City, Bayonne City Hall at 630 Avenue C, and the Shoprite Pharmacy parking lot at 3147 John F. Kennedy Blvd. in North Bergen.
At of each of these locations, a Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Mobile Unit will be on hand to collect prescription drugs.
No liquids, needles, or sharps will be collected; only pills or patches.
The service is free and anonymous with no questions asked.
“We are pleased to be working again this year on this important initiative with the DEA to help the public properly dispose of unwanted or expired medications,” said Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez. “We all know how dangerous it can be when unwanted prescription drugs get into the wrong hands and encourage everyone to take advantage of this free and safe program.”
This weekend’s is the DEA’s 19th nationwide event.
Last fall, Americans turned in nearly 883,000 pounds of prescription drugs at nearly 6,300 sites operated by the DEA and almost 5,000 of its state and local law enforcement partners.
The DEA, along with its law enforcement partners, has now collected nearly 6,350 tons of prescription medications since the inception of the National Prescription Drug Take Back Initiative in 2010.
To keep everyone safe, collection sites will follow local COVID-19 guidelines and regulations.
Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse.
Rates of prescription drug abuse in the United States are high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs.
There are other ways to dispose of unwanted prescription drugs, including the 11,000 authorized collectors that are available all year long.
For more information, visit DEA’s year-round collection site locator.
The FDA also provides information on how to properly dispose of prescription drugs.
For more information go to https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/where-andhow-dispose-unused-medicines.
For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about the October 24 Take Back Day event, go to www.DEATakeBack.com.
