Reminder: 'Operation Take Back' to Collect Unused Pills

This weekend, the Mahwah Police Department will once again be collecting unused prescription pills from township residents, an effort that police say has been very successful in the past.

'Operation Take Back,' a collaborative effort  between the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) the N.J. Office of the Attorney General will be held at Mahwah Police headquarters on Franklin Turnpike Saturday, Chief Jim Batelli announced in a release Wednesday afternoon.

"Operation Take Back is a national initiative that encourages residents to clean out their medicine cabinets and bring unused or expired prescriptions or over the counter medications for safe and anonymous disposal," he said in the release. "After the event the collected medications will discarded in a safe and environmentally-friendly way."

Residents can drop off the drugs anonymously.

Mahwah has participated in the DEA Operation for several years. According to Batelli, the response to the initiative in the township has been strong.

"The Mahwah Police Department has participated in several of these events and each time the volume of medications collected seems to increase so the message is getting out," he said.

Locals can drop pills off between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday.