shorenewstoday.com: Police department gets new medicine drop box

1/19/2016

 

Posted: Tuesday, January 19, 2016 9:46 am | Updated: 9:50 am, Tue Jan 19, 2016.

The container, which resembles a U.S. Postal Service street collection box but is white rather than blue, was provided by Join Together Atlantic County, a substance abuse prevention coalition funded by the Partnership for a Drug Free New Jersey with grants from two federal drug-abuse prevention agencies.

Residents are asked to use the box to dispose of unused, unwanted or expired prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications.

The box is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week in the lobby of police headquarters at 111 N. Decatur Ave.

The department has been collecting unwanted prescription drugs for more than a year, officials said.

“This one is much larger than the one we had hanging on the wall,” Detective Lt. Joseph Scullion said.

Scullion worked with Brian Wilson of Join Together Atlantic County to obtain the box and develop an awareness campaign to reduce the abuse of prescription drugs.

According to a press release from Police Chief David Wolfson, two in five teenagers believe that prescription drugs are much safer than illegal drugs, and each day about 2,500 youths get high for the first time by taking prescription pain relievers.

“Citizens who choose to utilize this prescription box are helping to keep drugs out of the hands of someone who may choose to abuse them, and also help protect our environment, which is extremely important given our location here at the shore,” Wolfson said.

Placing unwanted medication in the drop box is an eco-friendly way to dispose of them, keeping dangerous drugs that are often flushed down the toilet or put in the trash out of the waste stream and the water supply.

The American Medicine Chest Challenge asks residents to pledge that they will inventory their prescriptions and over-the-counter medications, keep the home medicine chest in a secure place, use the disposal box to get rid of unwanted medications, and take their medications as prescribed by their doctor. A major component of the challenge is to talk to children about the dangers of prescription drug abuse.

Join Together Atlantic County is.

For information see americanmedicinechest.com or call 609-909-7214.