Police to Again Collect Unwanted Meds

For the second day in 2011, the Senior Center at the Chews Landing Road will resemble a pharmacy more than anything else one Saturday later this month.

Only pharmacists won't be handing out drugs to those walking through the Senior Center's doors. Instead, police will be on hand to collect unused, unwanted and expired drugs.

The township Police Department will again be participating in Operation Take Back New Jersey—this time from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29—joining hundreds of law-enforcement agencies across the state for the initiative.

The latest effort comes following a successful local collection on April 30.

Nationally, 376,593 pounds, or 188 tons, of prescription drugs were turned in at nearly 5,400 sites operated by the DEA and more than 3,000 state and local law enforcement partners in the spring collection drive.

Drug-abuse task forces across the nation have found that many who become addicted to painkillers took their first pills after finding them in medicine cabinets in their homes or friends' homes.

Operation Take Back New Jersey aims to reduce the likelihood of that happening.

The program also assures the drugs are disposed of in an environmentally sound fashion. Flushing prescription drugs down the toilet can taint the public water supply.

For more information on the local Operation Take Back New Jersey, call Sgt. Brendan Barton or Cpl. Sean Grannan of the Police Department's Community Relations Bureau at 856-228-4011 or send them an email at communityrelations@gtpolice.com.