In Brick, Operation Take Back Of Prescription Drugs Is Every Day

BRICK, NJ — Take a look in your medicine cabinet. Do you see that old bottle of Percocets on the shelf, the one your teen got when her wisdom teeth were pulled? How about the pills you were prescribed for any manner of ills, that have just been sitting there, taking up space?

They don't have to sit in your cabinet any longer.

Saturday is the Drug Enforcement Agency's National Operation Take Back, where police departments in towns across the country are accepting prescription medications that are no longer needed.

And while the focus in many towns is on Saturday's collections, part of ongoing efforts to get opioids off the streets and keep them out of the hands of those caught up in addiction, in Brick and many towns in Ocean County, access to drop off unneeded prescriptions is available around the clock seven days a week. Just go to police headquarters on Chambersbridge Road and use the Project Medicine Drop box in the lobby.

It's something that apparently many people in Brick still are not aware exists. According to a survey of parents conducted earlier this year by the Brick Municipal Anti-Drug Coalition, only 30 percent were depositing unused prescriptions in the drop box. Another 33 percent said they threw them in the trash and 24 percent more said they flushed them down the toilet — both of which are discouraged as disposal methods because they can get into the water supply.

The Project Medicine Drop program is anonymous. No questions are asked and you are not asked for identification when you drop off medications. The Project Medicine Drop box is at police headquarters to maintain and safeguard the integrity of the disposed items.

You can dispose of medication either in its original container or by removing medication from its container and disposing directly into the drug disposal box. If you bring it in the original container, remove the prescription label and all personal identifying information.

You cannot deposit liquids, syringes and other sharp instruments in the Project Medicine Drop boxes.

If you know of family members, particularly senior citizens, who have unused and unneeded or expired medications sitting around, share this information with them, as many people do not know they can get rid of medications this way.

For further information, call Brick police at 732-262-1100.

Photo by Karen Wall, Patch staff