Gloucester Twp. Police Collect 490 Pounds Of Prescription Drugs

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — Gloucester Township police collected nearly 500 pounds of unwanted prescription drugs over the last three months, police said Wednesday morning.

The township’s residents dropped off about 490 pounds of unwanted prescription drugs between July and September in the prescription drug drop boxes at the township’s municipal building, 1261 Chews Landing Road.

The drop boxes are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week in the police department’s watch desk area; and Monday through Thursday at the entrance to the municipal building.

“Misuse of prescription opioids, CNS depressants, and stimulants is a serious public health problem in the United States,” police said.

An estimated 18 million people have misused such medications at least once in the past year, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

According to the State Attorney General’s Office, the number of fatal overdoses in Camden County increased each year from 2013 through 2019. The year-by-year information can be found below:

• 2013: 160 deaths at a rate of 1 per 3,188 people; there were 432,969 opioid prescriptions dispensed
• 2014: 138 deaths at a rate of 1 per 3,685 people; there were 445,336 opioid prescriptions dispensed
• 2015: 191 deaths at a rate of 1 per 2,659 people; there were 1,505 naloxone administrations at a rate of 1 per 337 people; there were 473,204 opioid prescriptions dispensed
• 2016: 200 deaths at a rate of 1 per 2,535 people; there were 1,098 naloxone administrations at a rate of 1 per 462 people; there were 450,072 opioid prescriptions dispensed
• 2017: 307 deaths at a rate of 1 per 1,649 people; there were 2,493 naloxone administrations at a rate of 1 per 203 people; there were 415,775 opioid prescriptions dispensed
• 2018: 329 deaths at a rate of 1 per 1,541 people; there were 1,137 naloxone administrations at a rate of 1 per 162 people; there were 367,679 opioid prescriptions dispensed
• 2019: 340 deaths with 2,824 naloxone administrations; there were 361,813 opioid prescriptions dispensed.
• 2020: 175 deaths through Wednesday with 1,570 naloxone administrations; there were 194,489 opioid prescriptions dispensed.

No information on rates were provided for 2019 and 2020.