Officials Urge New Jerseyans To Turn In Unused Prescriptions

“Operation Take Back”. It’s an effort to stem an insidious tide of drug abuse and overuse in New Jersey.

Kids, stealing prescriptions from parents’ and grandparents medicine cabinets. People overmedicating with prescribed drugs. Some of the problems with legal prescriptions and over-the-counter medicines. On Saturday, Middlesex County will join a growing list of places offering “Operation Take Back” to turn in unneeded drugs and medicine. It is an opportunity to turn in both prescribed and over-the-counter medicine that is no longer needed. Middlesex County drug dependence expert Ezra Helfand says they welcome people to come to every local facility in their town, which will include most Middlesex County towns as well as Rutgers.

Figures show that earlier this year, the American public turned in 309 tons of pills during “Operation Take Back” events. More than 4-thousand local and state law enforcement agencies have participated in events nationwide.

Drug experts warn that when the stuff languishes in storage at home, it invites abuse and misuse. And what used to be acceptable…flushing the drugs… has now been shown to harm the water supply.