DRUG TAKE BACK DAY SCHEDULED FOR APRIL 28 IN ROCKLAND COUNTY

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

Rockland is once again offering residents the opportunity to empty their medicine cabinets of unused prescription drugs before they fall into the wrong hands. National Prescription Drug Take Back Day will be held from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Saturday, April 28 at the pharmacies listed below.

The event is part of the National Drug Take Back day initiated by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency. The local event has been organized by Rockland County Executive Ed Day and the Rockland County Department of Mental Health under the direction of Commissioner Michael Leitzes, along with police in Clarkstown, Haverstraw, Spring Valley and the Rockland County Sheriff’s Department.

Residents will be able to bring medications to the following locations where police along with volunteer community agencies will be on hand to take the substances and dispose of them in an environmentally safe way.

New City: CVS Pharmacy, 280 South Main Street
Bardonia: CVS Pharmacy, 300 Route 304
Garnerville: CVS Pharmacy, 12 West Ramapo Road
Spring Valley: Walgreens, 208 East Route 59
Nyack: Walgreens, 16 Route 59

Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows year after year that the majority of misused and abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including someone else’s medication being stolen from the home medicine cabinet.

In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety and health hazards. The Drug Take Back was a success last October, with more than 162 New York State police departments participating at 242 sites and collecting almost 38,000 pounds of drugs.
For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about National Drug Take Back Day events visit the DEA Office of Diversion Control website at http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/

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