Drug Take-Back Day Helps Rid Homes Of Old Pills

NEW YORK, NY – You know all those old, near-empty prescription bottles that have been sitting in your bathroom cabinet for years?

Nobody’s judging. We understand: You’ve just been smart enough not to thrown them away with your regular garbage. But they shouldn't be lingering where they are either.

In New York City, you can dispose of unused medication on April 28 during a spring Take Back Day. The event, sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Administration, are held twice annually to help Americans safely dispose of expired and unused prescriptions.

Not only will you eliminate the risk that somebody could pop a pill that has expired - or, worse, that wasn't prescribed for them.

Last fall, Americans turned in a record-setting 912,305 pounds — or 456 tons — of potentially dangerous drugs, almost 6 tons more than collected at the spring 2017 event. That brings to 4,508 tons the amount of prescription drugs collected by the DEA since the fall of 2010.

Local prescription drug disposal events are at:

LENOX HILL HOSPITAL
100 EAST 77TH STREET

DEA NEW YORK DIVISION
NYPD 20 PRECINCT
120 WEST 82ND STREET

DEA NEW YORK DIVISION
NYPD 13 PRECINCT
230 EAST 21ST STREET

LENOX HEALTH GREENWICH VILLAGE
LENOX HILL HEALTHPLEX
30 7TH AVENUE
NEW YORK

DEA NEW YORK DIVISION
NYPD 10 PRECINCT
230 WEST 20TH STREET

DEA NEW YORK DIVISION
NYPD 7 PRECINCT
19 1/2 PITT STREET

NYPD 26TH PRECINCT
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SIDEWALK
WEST 116TH STREET AND BROADWAY

DEA NEW YORK DIVISION
NYPD 25 PRECINCT
120 EAST 119TH STREET

DEA NEW YORK DIVISION
NYPD 84 PRECINCT
301 GOLD STREET
BROOKLYN

NYPD 33 PCT./ COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
560 W 168 STREET

DEA NEW YORK DIVISION
NYPD 78 PRECINCT
65 SIXTH AVENUE (FLATBUSH)
BROOKLYN

DEA NEW YORK DIVISION
NYPD 42 PRECINCT
830 WASHINGTON AVENUE MORRISANIA
BRONX

DEA NEW YORK DIVISION
NYPD 90TH PRECINCT
211 UNION AVENUE
BROOKLYN

DEA NEW YORK DIVISION
NYPD 48 PRECINCT
450 CROSS BRONX EXPRESSWAY
BRONX

DEA NEW YORK DIVISION
NYPD 46 PRECINCT
2120 RYER AVENUE
BRONX

DEA NEW YORK DIVISION
NYPD 68 PRECINCT
333 65TH STREET
BROOKLYN

DEA NEW YORK DIVISION
NYPD 50TH PRECINCT
3450 KINGSBRIDGE AVENUE
BRONX

DEA NEW YORK DIVISION
NYPD 112TH PRECINCT
68-04 AUSTIN STREET
FOREST HILLS

DEA NEW YORK DIVISION
NYPD 45 PRECINCT
2877 BARKLEY AVENUE
BRONX

DEA NEW YORK DIVISION
NYPD 103RD PRECINCT
168-02 PO EDWARD BYRNE AVENUE
JAMAICA

More events will be added through the week, so be sure to check here to find a convenient location.

Included in the haul are ever-higher amounts of opioids, the DEA said. Though prescribed for pain management, these highly addictive drugs can be stolen and abused by family members and visitors, including children and teens. Opioid use has been declared a public health emergency by President Trump.

Often, the path to addiction to illegal drugs like heroin begins at a doctor’s office.

“The abuse of these prescription drugs has fueled the nation’s opioid epidemic which has led to the highest rate of overdose deaths this country has ever seen,” DEA Acting Administrator Robert W. Patterson said in a statement. “This is a crisis that must be addressed from multiple angles. Educating the public and removing these medications from households across the United State prevents misuse where it often starts.”

In 2016, opioids were involved in 42,249 overdose deaths, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overdose deaths were five times higher in 2016, the latest year for which statistics are available, than they were in 1999.

The majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet, the DEA said.

Other methods of disposal — throwing unused drugs out with the trash or flushing them down the toilet — can cause environmental damage, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

But it’s not just opioids that pose dangers. Expired prescription drugs can be less effective or risky due to changes over time in chemical composition. Some expired medications are at risk of bacterial growth, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Expired antibiotics may not treat infections, leading to more serious illnesses and antibiotic resistance, the DEA said.

The drugs must have been prescribed to a member of your household. Illegal drugs can’t be disposed of during the events, nor can syringes and needles. More information is available here.

Original reporting by Beth Dalbey/Patch

Photo by David Smart/Shutterstock.com