Ocean County Prosecutor's Office Pill Disposal Initiative A Success

A lot of unused prescription drugs went up in smoke on Wednesday in what Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato called one of the "three largest pill burns" to date.

On Oct. 26, the Prosecutor's Office supervised the destruction of 2,800 pounds of unused prescription medications, a spokesman said.

“There is no question that unused medications many times end up in the wrong hands and are used illegally," Coronato said. "In the worst case scenarios, these forgotten pain killing medications lead to addiction or teens becoming unwitting drug dealers.”

Project Medicine Drop is the county-wide initiative to make disposal of unused medications an easy convenient priority for Ocean County residents. The towns have medication drop boxes at police department entrances are: Barnegat, Berkeley, Harvey Cedars, Jackson, Lacey, Lakewood, Little Egg Harbor Township, Long Beach, Manchester Township, Ocean, Plumsted, Point Pleasant, Seaside Heights, Stafford, Toms River and Tuckerton, said spokesman Al Della Fave.

Since Project Medicine Drop began in the summer of 2014, 19,100 pounds of various medicines were destroyed between October 3, 2014 and October 26, 2016. Below is the list of burn dates and totals:

October 3, 2014 - 2,220 pounds.

March 27, 2015 - 2,880 pounds

July 17, 2015 - 2,520 pounds

October 29, 2015 - 2,300 pounds.

December 2, 2015 - 1,040 pounds.

April 13, 2016 - 2,380 pounds.

July 20, 2016- 2,960 pounds.

October 26, 2016 - 2,800 pounds.

"It can be difficult to comprehend the astounding amount of medications to account for such a huge total," Coronato said. "The attached photos...may give you some sense, as OCPO detectives unload a box packed to the door."

Images: Ocean County Prosecutor's Office