Got unneeded medication? Safely drop them off in the drop-off container at the Hillsborough Township Police Department, located in the Hillsborough Municipal Building during the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) National Take Back Day.
Drop-off is confidential and anonymous. The program will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 22.
Take Back Day, which is in its 24th year, is a campaign to encourage people to safely dispose of unneeded medication.
“Too often, unused and expired prescription drugs find their way into the wrong hands, which is dangerous and can be tragic,” Hillsborough Township Police Chief Mike McMahon said.
The DEA began its Take Back Day initiative in September 2010. At inception, the initiative was two-fold, to minimize water pollution by avoiding flushing drugs into the sewer system and providing a safe, anonymous means of disposing of unneeded or expired medications.
“This is an important initiative and it should be noted that Hillsborough Township has a receptacle in the police department lobby for medicine drop off all throughout the year,” noted Committeeman Doug Tomson, liaison to Public Safety.
Since the program was launched, its focus has shifted more to preventing drug overdose and misuse and providing resources for the treatment of substance abuse disorders.
During the 23rd National Take Back Day in October 2022, 231 law enforcement agencies across the state participated in collecting medications, and there were 4,902 collection sites across the country. The collection netted 324 tons of medications. Generally, there are two take-back days a year, in April and October.
For additional information, please visit dea.gov/takebackday.
