OSSINING POLICE & CTC TAKING BACK UNWANTED PRESCRIPTION DRUGS OCTOBER 26 AT the POLICE STATION

Ossining, NY – On Saturday, October 26, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the Village of Ossining Police, the Ossining Communities That Care coalition, and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public another opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. Bring your medications for disposal to Birdsall-Fagan Police/Court Facility at 86-88 Spring Street.  The service is free, convenient, and anonymous.

Last April, Americans turned in 371 tons (over 742,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at over 5,800 sites operated by the DEA and its thousands of state and local law enforcement partners, which included Ossining’s community resources.  In its six previous Take-Back events, DEA and its partners took in over 2.8 million pounds—more than 1,400 tons—of pills.  On prior Take-Back days Ossining residents have turned in more than eleven thousand pills, tablets and capsules, including hundreds of oxycodone pills.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Ossining residents are urged to clean out their medicine chests, obscure or remove personally identifying information from the packaging, and bring unwanted prescription pills, patches and ointments to the collection site. Also accepted are unused or expired over-the-counter medicines and pet medications.

Disposing of unwanted drugs on Take-Back Day takes just a few minutes, but contributes importantly to community safety.  Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs.  Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including 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—pose potential safety and health hazards.

“Offering an environmentally friendly way to dispose of drugs is just one of the benefits of Take- Back Day in Ossining,” says Dr. Tullio G. Bruno, pharmacist at the local HealthSmart Pharmacy and volunteer supervisor of drug intake for the DEA on Take Back Day. “Prescriptions are not cosmetics,” he cautions. “Preventing their abuse and tracking their nonconsumption can improve healthcare for patients and help control healthcare costs for all of us.”

The DEA is in the process of approving new regulations that implement the Safe and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010, which amends the Controlled Substances Act to allow an “ultimate user” (that is, a patient or pet or their family member or owner) of controlled substance medications to dispose of them by delivering them to entities authorized by the Attorney General to accept them. The Act also allows the Attorney General to authorize long term care facilities to dispose of their residents’ controlled substances in certain instances.

Ossining Communities That Care (CTC) is a coalition of concerned individuals and diverse organizations whose goal is to reduce the use of alcohol and drugs in Ossining and prevent underage drinking. Working collaboratively since 2004, Ossining Communities That Care has energetically pursued the education of both Ossining youth and parents, creating awareness of the risks and problems that arise from substance abuse, and offering resources that serve the spectrum of prevention, intervention, treatment, and recovery.

Education and support services, through seminars, training programs, workshops, and media campaigns, reach out to parents and guardians, middle and high school students, educators and administrators, local alcohol retailers, as well as health service providers in both the public and private sectors.

Funded by grants from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the coalition maintains Ossining as a Drug Free Community (DFC), and operates out of the Open Door Family Medical Center.