DEA: 15,000 Pounds Of Prescription Drugs Turned In At N.J. Take Back Event
TRENTON, N.J. (CBSNewYork) - New Jersey's division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has pulled huge quantities of legal drugs out of the state.
As WCBS 880's Jim Smith reported, a recent prescription drug take back event netted nearly 15,000 pounds.
"People are looking to empty out the medicine cabinets, get rid of the medications that they're no longer using and no longer need," the DEA's Timothy McMahon told Smith. "Unused, expired and unwanted prescriptions."
DEA: 15,000 Pounds Of Prescription Drugs Turned In At N.J. Take Back Event
Officials said 7.5 tons of prescription drugs were collected in a four-hour window last weekend. The goal is to get potentially addictive drugs out of harm's way.
"The narcotic painkillers; Oxycodone, Percocet, Vicodin," McMahon said. "One of the biggest problems facing the country today is the increased use and abuse of prescription medications."
He noted young people often get hooked at the family medicine cabinet and then escalate to cheaper street drugs like heroin.
Collection sites are open year-round, but take back events are held twice a year in the state.
About 30,000 pounds of prescription drugs are turned in and destroyed annually in New Jersey, officials said.
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