Wall Police Holding Drug Drop-Off Event Saturday

WALL, NJ — Do you have expired prescription medication in your medicine cabinet? Do you have painkillers that were prescribed but that you no longer need? Not sure what to do with the medications of a relative who has died?

On Saturday, the Wall Township Police Department will be participating in "Operation Take Back New Jersey," part of a national effort led by the Drug Enforcement Agency to encourage people to dispose of unused, unneeded and unwanted medications to keep them off the streets.

The Wall Township collection will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the police department, 2700 Allaire Road, Wall.

Prescription medication has been fueling the opioid epidemic across the country; according to the American Society of Addiction Medicine. Drug overdoses are now the No. 1 cause of accidental death in the United States, with 52,404 people dying from lethal drug overdoses in 2015. Nearly half of those overdose deaths — 20,101 — were related to prescription pain relievers, ASAM said.

An additional 12,990 overdose deaths in 2015 were related to heroin, ASAM said; four out of five new heroin users got started with prescription pain killers, the organization said.

Of the 20.5 million Americans 12 or older who had a substance use disorder in 2015, 2 million had a substance use disorder involving prescription pain relievers, according to statistics provided by the organization.

And the most sobering statistic? In 2015, the most recent year that information is available, there were 276,000 kids ages 12 to 17 who were using pain killers that were not prescribed to them, with 122,000 having an addiction to prescription pain relievers. And the ASAM said most of those kids are receiving them from a friend or relative who shared their own unused prescriptions.

The prescription medication take back program is anonymous and all efforts will be made to protect the anonymity of individuals disposing of medications, Wall police said.

"No questions or requests for identification will be made. You will be able to deposit medications freely and independently," Wall Detective Lt. Greg Carpino said.

The only role of police in this event is to safeguard the medication and ensure it is disposed of properly, Carpino said.

You may 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 choose to drop off the medication in its original container, be sure to remove the prescription label with all personal identifying information.

Liquid products should remain sealed in their original container.

Syringes and other sharp instruments will not be accepted, police said.

At the conclusion of the program, the DEA will assume custody of the drug collection boxes and dispose of the contents in accordance with DEA policy, Carpino said.

Photo by Karen Wall