By Somerset County Sheriff Frank J. Provenzano
SOMERVILLE – The Somerset County Sheriff’s Office and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) are partnering to hold a third National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.
“This one-day event will make it convenient for the public to rid their homes of potentially dangerous prescription drugs,” said Sheriff Frank J. Provenzano.
On Saturday, April 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. bring your medications for disposal to the Sheriff’s Office located at the Somerset County Administration Building at 20 Grove Street, Somerville, NJ 08876. The service is free and anonymous.
Americans participating in the DEA’s two previous National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day events turned in more than 309 tons of pills at more than 5,300 sites staffed by more than 3,800 federal, state and local law enforcement partners.
Prescription drugs that languish in home medicine cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse, creating a public health crisis. In the United States today, two-and-a-half times more people abuse prescription drugs than the number of those using cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens and inhalants combined, according to the recently released 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). The same study shows a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from home medicine cabinets.
For more information about National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, contact Lt. Steve SanAntonio in the Sheriff’s Office at 908-231-7140, ext. 9.
