Operation Take Back New Jersey collected 14,436 pounds of unwanted or unused prescription and overthe counter medications at locations around the state on Sept. 25. The goal of Operation Take Back New Jersey was to prevent those drugs from slipping into the hands of young children and teenagers.
N.J. residents responded to a DEA initiative that allowed people to turn in unused medications. More than 14,000 pounds were collected. PHOTO BY DEA SPECIAL AGENT DOUGLAS S. COLLIER New Jersey residents had the opportunity to dispose of their unused, unwanted, and expired medication with no questions asked at drop-off points throughout the state.
John G. McCabe Jr., acting special agent in charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, New Jersey Division, said, “This record seizure was a direct response by our citizens in New Jersey to support law enforcement in DEA’s prescription drug abuse efforts.
“New Jersey residents assisted us by cleaning their homes of unwanted medicines that could have potentially been diverted and abused by our youth. The DEA set out to help all of New Jersey by implementing Operation Take Back New Jersey, and in turn the citizens are the ones that assisted the DEA in this record seizure,” he said.
Operation Take Back New Jersey accomplished two main goals, according to Mc- Cabe.
“First and foremost, it generated education and awareness to the issue of prescription and over-thecounter medicine abuse, and second, it offered thousands of New Jersey residents the opportunity to rid their homes of medicines that were no longer needed,” McCabe said.D
EA Special Agent Douglas S. Collier, public information officer, said, “Our participating municipalities exceeded last year’s amount of medications. We asked our participants to stop, drop and roll: stop by with their unused and unwanted medications; drop them into a container, thereby disposing of them legally and environmentally safely; and roll on out with no questions asked.”
Collier said that among the drugs people dropped off at the collection points were pain medications such as OxyContin, Fentanyl and Vicodin.
“We know these particular drugs have a history of having a very high rate of abuse,” he said.
— Clare Marie Celano