New Milford Police Call 'Operation Take Back' a Success

The New Milford Police Department partnered with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Saturday, offering residents another chance “to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs.”

According to Chief Frank Papapietro, Operation Take-Back was very successful.

"We took in two very large garbage bags of unused, unwanted or expired prescription medication during the operation," he said. "We also collected unused pet medication as well." 

Eric Kanefsky, Acting Director with the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, has been visiting high schools throughout the state emphasizing the dangers of taking prescription drugs without a doctor's oversight.

"At their core, prescription drugs have the same effect as heroin--they are just as addictive and just as deadly," Kanefsky said.

According to Kanefsky, over the last five years, there has been a rise in prescription drug use among high school students.

"High school students have been made aware of the dangers of street drugs such as cocaine and heroin, but they think that prescription drugs are safer," Kanefsky said. "The truth is that there's a prescription drug epidemic that's killing kids."

Papapietro agreed. "We teach our kids to say 'no' to the known illegal drugs--marijuana, cocaine, heroin--but the truth is that addiction often begins with the use of prescription pills that are just lying around the house." 

"What people fail to realize is that these painkillers are opiates," Papapietro said.   

According to the Center for Disease Control, in 2010, nearly 60 percent of drug overdose deaths involved prescription painkillers such as oxycodone and hydrocodone.

"It is very important to get these prescription drugs out of homes when they are no longer needed," Papapietro said.  

"The misperception that prescription drugs are safe because they are legal is wrong," he said.

Papapietro added, "There's a reason why a doctor's approval and oversight is needed before they can be prescribed. They're a dangerous controlled substance."

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