Cranford Police To Participate In National Take Back Initiative

The Cranford Police Department will be hosting a local medication collection site as part of the National Take Back Initiative medicine disposal day. The event will take place at the Cranford Community Center, 220 Walnut Ave., between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Sept. 29, 2012.

This initiative, open to all residents, was organized to encourage local community residents to properly dispose of their unused, unwanted and expired medicine. Police will be on hand to accept medication for disposal. No identification will be required and disposal is completely voluntary and anonymous. Needles, syringes and other sharp instruments will NOT be collected.

This national effort, with the majority of New Jersey police departments participating - and 4,268 agencies nationwide - is being spearheaded by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Statewide partners include the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, the NY/NJ HIDTA, and the New Jersey National Guard. Cranford residents looking for additional information on the program and local collection sites should visit http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/.

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 U.S. 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 medicine — flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash — both pose potential safety and health hazards.

Last April, Americans turned in 552,161 pounds — 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.

“The abuse of prescription and over the counter drugs is often overlooked as a public safety issue. Through our participation in the Take Back Initiative we are encouraging residents to properly dispose of their unwanted or expired medicines, and in doing so we are protecting vulnerable members of our community from the host of issues that accompany the abuse of these medicines.”