Crime & Safety
National Drug 'Take Back' Returns to Florham Park
Residents can drop off old drugs on Saturday at police headquarters as part of an effort to prevent abuse and dispose drugs safely.
The Florham Park Police Department on Saturday is taking unused and unwanted drugs as part of the DEA's national initiative Operation Take Back.
This initiatve, that has been going on twice a year since 2010, allows residents to drop off pills to dispose them safely and prevent them from getting into the wrong hands.
Residents can drop off the unwanted drugs on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Florham Park Police Headquarters located at 111 Ridgedale Ave.
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"It's important because it's not safe to dispose of drugs in any other way," Sgt. Scott Bartell said. "It's not safe to flush them down the toilet or just put them in the garbage. And with prescription drug abuse on the rise nationwide, it's important that residents turn in drugs that they no longer need and to turn them in properly ensures that they don't get in the wrong hands."
According to the DEA, drug abuse rates have been increasing at an alarming rate, and many of the people who abuse the drugs obtain them from their family and friends' medicine cabinets.
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"This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue," the police said in a statement. "Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse."
In addition, disposing the drugs by flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the garbage pose potential safety and health hazards.
The Take Back initiative takes place every April and October, and the Florham Park Police have participated in each event since it started in 2010.
At the most recent Take Back in April, Florham Park collected 45 pounds of prescription drugs that were handed to the DEA and then destroyed.
Across the county in over 5,600 Take Back sites, 552,161 pounds of drugs were collected in April.
In its four previous Take Backs, the DEA has collected over 1.5 million pounds of pills.
Residents dispose the drugs for free and anonymously. There are no questions asked.
For more information about the initiative, visit justice.gov/dea.
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