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Pine Hill Police Administration Building
Saturday, October 23, 2021 10:00am – 2:00pm
The Pine Hill Police Department will be participating in the 21st DEA Operation Take Back New Jersey on Saturday, October 23, 2021 from 10:00am until 2:00pm and will follow all current COVID-19 guidelines and regulations to ensure a safe, secure drop-off The event will be held at the Police Administration Building located at 48 West Sixth Avenue. The Department will be providing a safe and legal method for the residents of Pine Hill and surrounding jurisdictions to dispose of unused, unwanted or expired medication. Information will also be available for the PHPD – VOADV IMPACT Initiative. Since May 2014, the Pine Hill Police Department has responded to over 250 reported drug overdoses. Police Officers and EMS have deployed lifesaving naloxone in over 150 of those incidents.
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At its last Take Back Day in April 2021, DEA collected a high amount of expired, unwanted, and unused prescription medications, with the public turning in close to 420 tons of unwanted drugs. Over the 10-year span of Take Back Day, DEA has brought in more than 7000 tons of prescription drugs. With studies indicating a majority of abused prescription drugs come from family and friends, including from home medicine cabinets, clearing out unused medicine is essential. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. has seen an increase in overdose deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 83,544 Americans overdosing during the 12-month period ending July 1, 2020, the most ever recorded in a 12-month period. The increase in drug overdose deaths appeared to begin prior to the COVID-19 health emergency, but accelerated significantly during the first months of the pandemic.
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. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows year after year that the majority of misused and abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including someone else’s medication being stolen from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, 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.
| For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs, the IMPACT Initiative or about the October 23, 2021 Take Back Day event contact D/Sgt. Field at [email protected], email [email protected] or visit www.DEATakeBack.com
PHPD & PROJECT MEDICINE DROP
Permanent and Portable Drug Drop Boxes Available!
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Since 2012, the Pine Hill Police Department has provided residents with a drug drop box as part of the Department’s effort to combat the opiate addiction epidemic. The Department has recently joined the NJ Attorney General’s Project Medicine Drop, which in addition to the permanent drop location; the department’s new portable drug drop box will be available at many of the community outreach programs. Project Medicine Drop Box is located at the Police Administration Building. Residents may visit the Pine Hill Police Department at any time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, to dispose of their unused or excess medications. |
