Dump Your Old Prescriptions Safely and for Free

New Jersey residents who want to safely dispose of old prescription medications now have four new drop-off locations to choose from, Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa and the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs announced this week.

The Cherry Hill, Lower Township and Toms River police departments and the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office joined the disposal program already in place at the Little Falls, Seaside Heights and Vineland police departments.

New Jersey’s “Project Medicine Drop” allows citizens to get rid of unwanted prescriptions in a twofold win: it keeps old medications out of the hands of people who could abuse it and it keeps the substances out of the water supply by not flushing the medications.

Secure mailbox-shaped containers are available at the drop-off points 24 hours a day. 

“Prescription painkiller abuse sends thousands of New Jersey residents into addiction treatment each year, and kills more Americans than cocaine and heroin combined,” Chiesa said in a statement. “We are fighting this problem with targeted investigations and enhanced tools to detect ‘pill mills’ and ‘doctor shopping.’

“Today, by expanding Project Medicine Drop, we are inviting New Jerseyans to join us in this fight.”

As part of the expansion, the state teamed up with Covanta Energy Corporation, a Morristown-based business, that will enable police departments to destroy medications turned in by consumers for free.

Residents responded in overwhelming numbers during a pilot program on the medication disposal, turning in 400 pounds of pills and containers. Destruction threatened to become cost-prohibitive, officials said.

With the partnership, Covanta will transport the medications to facilities in Newark, Rahway or Oxford, where they will be consumed in furnaces that convert municipal solid waste to steam and electricity.

Covanta has run the same operation in other states, destroying more than 240,000 pounds of medications, officials said.

The safe disposal comes as prescription drug abuse issues continue to loom across New Jersey and nationwide. State officials released the following statistics:

• New Jersey saw more than 7,000 admissions in 2010 to state-licensed or certified substance abuse treatment programs due to prescription painkiller abuse—a 230 percent increase from 2005. 
• In June 2011, the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation reported that a growing number of young people are abusing prescription drugs, and noted a significant trend in which the practice has led to increases, not only in the number of young people addicted to painkillers, but to the number of young people using heroin as well.
• Every day, 40 Americans die from an overdose caused by prescription painkiller abuse, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overdoses of opioid prescription drugs now kill more people in the U.S. than heroin and cocaine combined.
• The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has reported that two in five teenagers mistakenly believe prescription drugs are “much safer” than illegal drugs.