Spring Cleaning for Your Medicine Cabinet

Spring is all around us and it's time to clean house. While you are dusting in hard-to-reach corners and packing away winter clothes, don't forget an essential spot that requires pruning, your medicine cabinet.

In an effort to help people dispose of expired or unwanted prescription medication safely, the Drug Enforcement Administration has scheduled another Operation Take Back Day on Saturday, April 28 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. 

Additionally, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety and health hazards.

Last October, Operation Take Back New Jersey collected 9,831 pounds of medications. Nationwide, the program collected 377,086 pounds of unused, unwanted, and expired medications.

Drop-off centers will be located at:

• 
  1 Aberdeen Square, Aberdeen NJ
  732-566-2054
• 
  150 Main Street, Matawan NJ
  732-290-2025
• Keyport Police Department
  70 West Front Street, Keyport NJ
  732-264-0706
• Hazlet Police Department
  255 Middle Road, Hazlet NJ
  732-264-6565
• Old Bridge Police Department
  1 Old Bridge Plaza, Old Bridge NJ
  732-721-4000