Ocean County authorities collected, burned more than 8,000 pounds of pills so far this year
Ocean County Prosecutor's Office personnel toss boxes of discarded medication into a waiting front loader. (Image courtesy of Al Della Fave/Ocean County Prosecutor's Office)
An Ocean County collection and disposal program for unused prescription medication continues to be a “great success,” authorities say.
Since the first 2016 collection in April, Ocean County residents have dropped over 8,000 pounds of medication into boxes at municipal police departments, said Al Della Fave, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman.
County authorities then collected and burned the pills.
“There is no question that unused medications many times end up in the wrong hands and are used illegally. In the worst case scenarios these forgotten pain killing medications lead to addiction or teens becoming unwitting drug dealers,” Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato said in a release.
Project Medicine Drop is a county-wide initiative to make disposal of unused medications an easy and convenient priority for Ocean County residents.
Participating municipals that have easily accessible medication drop boxes at police department entrances include Barnegat, Berkeley, Harvey Cedars, Jackson, Lacey, Lakewood, Little Egg Harbor Township, Long Beach, Manchester Township, Ocean, Plumsted, Pt. Pleasant, Seaside Heights, Stafford, Toms River, and Tuckerton.
Authorities destroyed 2,800 pounds of unused medication during the most recent burn this week. In three years, they’ve eliminated nearly 20,000 pounds.
For more information about the initiative, click here.
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