GOT DRUGS.....National Prescription Take-Back Day

GOT DRUGS?

Of course you do—the pharmaceutical industry is an $800 billion business. 

What you don’t have is a safe, convenient way to dispose of all those unused, unwanted, expired prescriptions and over-the-counter medications on a regular basis . . . till now.

National Prescription Take-Back Day is this Saturday, September 29. In support of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s prescription take-back initiative, Ossining has introduced a MedReturn Drug Collection Unit, permanently installed inside the Ossining Village Police Department’s front door at 88 Spring Street. The MedReturn unit will be there for you, secure and anonymous, 24/7 to collect unwanted drugs and make sure they are disposed of properly before they can be misused.

Many Americans are not aware that unused or expired medicines are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the United States are increasing at alarming rates, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to abuse of these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.

You can play an important role in keeping these drugs off the street, out of our water supply, away from our wildlife, and most important, unavailable to our children.

Here’s what you can do:
 

1. Clean out your medicine chest today and gather all unused, expired, unwanted prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs. Leave them in the original container or bottle if possible; obscure or remove any personally identifying information on the packaging.

1. Visit the Birdsall-Fagan Police/Court Facility at 86-88 Spring Street in Ossining on Saturday, September 29, beginning at 10 a.m. to deposit these unwanted meds in the MedReturn unit. It will only take a few minutes of your time and you can safely dispose of unwanted prescription medications, patches, ointments, drug samples, over-the-counter medications, vitamins, and pet medications.

1. The next time you set your clocks and replace your smoke-detector batteries, clean out your medicine chest and drop any unwanted drugs at the Ossining Police Station MedReturn.

The MedReturn Drug Collection Unit is an initiative of the Ossining Communities That Care Coalition (CTC) and the Village of Ossining Police Department. It was funded by a Drug-Free Community grant from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). CTC is a coalition of concerned individuals and diverse community organizations whose goal is to reduce the use of alcohol and drugs in Ossining and prevent underage drinking.

To learn more about safe disposal of medicines, visit here.

To learn more about prescription drug abuse, visit here.

To learn more about Ossining Communities That Care coalition, visit here.