NEW WINDSOR — Police agencies throughout Orange County recently collected and disposed of more than 700 pounds of prescription medications.
Last summer, prescription medication disposal units were installed at police stations throughout the county by the Police Chief’s Association of Orange County and the New York National Guard Counter Drug Task Force in partnership with CVS Pharmacy.
Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion and abuse. The drug disposal boxes are intended to reduce the amount of unneeded medicine in homes in an effort to combat prescription drug abuse, which has soared in recent years, especially among teenagers.
Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as is the rate of accidental poisonings and overdoses, police say. Studies show most abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. According to a 2014 Partnership for Drug Free Kids study, more than 70 percent of teenagers say it's easy to get prescription drugs from their parents’ medicine cabinets.
The drug collection units — open to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with no questions asked — also help prevent contamination in local landfills and water supplies.
CVS’s Medication Disposal for Safer Communities Program provides a safe and environmentally responsible way to get rid of unwanted, unused or expired medications.
This first semi-annual prescription medication disposal initiative was conducted at the police academy located in New Windsor by members of the Police Chiefs Association of Orange County, Police Chiefs of Orange County Police Academy staff and recruits, and members of the New York National Guard Counter Drug Task Force.