Operation Take Back Comes to Mercer County Saturday

Mercer County residents can drop off unused and expired medication at the parking lot in front of the Mercer County Administration Building, 640 South Broad Street in Trenton as part of the New Jersey Drug Enforcement Administration’s Operation Take Back.

Operation Take Back will take place on Saturday, Sept. 27, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible method of disposing of prescription drugs, while educating the public about the potential abuse of medications.

The safe-disposal program helps keep prescription drugs from falling into the hands of those who might make them available for abuse and prevents them from being flushed into the water supply or thrown into the trash and easily found.

“Mercer County’s participation in the National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is an opportunity for individuals and families to safely remove unwanted prescription drugs from their households. Proper disposal of unwanted prescription drugs can prevent experimentation, chronic addiction, accidental overdose and even death,” Mercer County Sheriff Jack Kemler said.“It is a privilege for the Sheriff’s Office to take part in such a worthwhile initiative.”
If the original container is submitted, residents are encouraged to remove the prescription label if it contains any personal identifying information.

Liquid products, such as cough medicine, should remain sealed in their original container. The depositor should ensure that the cap is tightly sealed to prevent leakage.

Syringes and other sharp instruments will not be accepted.

The mission of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) New Jersey (NJ) Division Operation Take Back NJ is to provide a safe and legal method for the citizens of New Jersey to dispose their unwanted, unused, and expired medicines.

Each year, experts say, a growing number of teenagers quietly turn to a seemingly unlikely source to score drugs - their parents’ medicine cabinets.

According to one of the most recent studies, Monitoring the Future, from the University of Michigan, between 1997 and 2007, treatment admissions for prescription painkillers increased more than 400 percent.

In addition, between 2004 and 2008, the number of visits to hospital emergency department involving the non- medical use of narcotic painkillers increased 111 percent.

For more information, on Prescription Drug Take-Back Day and the safe disposal of prescription drugs, contact the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office at 609-989-6111.