Full Notification

16th NATIONWIDE PRESCRIPTION DRUG TAKE-BACK DAY

The Montclair Police Department Department in partnership with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public its 16th opportunity in nine years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, or unwanted prescription drugs.

Last April, the public turned in a record-setting amount of nearly one million pounds-nearly 475 tons of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs for disposal at close to 6,000 collection sites all across the country. This brings the total amount of prescription drugs collected by DEA since the fall of 2010 to 9.964,714 pounds or 4,982 tons.

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. Also, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety and health hazards.

We encourage every citizen to look in their homes for any old, unused prescription medication and bring them for disposal on Saturday, October 27th, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Montclair Police Department. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked. For the safety of our staff, no needles will be accepted.

For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about the October 27th Take-Back Day event, go to https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/index.html