Thousands of pounds of unused prescription drugs being hauled away. (Photo: OCPO)
Their backs might be stiff, but it was all in a day’s work for detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.
The detectives had a slightly different assignment than usual on Wednesday: loading 2,960 pounds of unused prescription drugs on a truck where they were to be burnt. Wednesday’s haul is a portion of the 13,340 pounds of pills the prosecutor’s office has collected since the agency began “Operation Medicine Drop” in late 2014.
“Unused medications often end up in the wrong hands, are used illegally, or find their way into our water supply,” said Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato. “In the worst case scenarios these forgotten pain killing medications lead to addiction or teens becoming unwitting drug dealers.”
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OCPO Agent Denis Mitchell (left) gets a pill burn celebration happy dance lesson from OCPO’s Anthony Carrington III. (Photo: OCPO)
Operation Medicine Drop is the county wide initiative to make disposal of unused medications an “easy convenient priority for Ocean County residents,” said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the prosecutor’s office. The office has set up collection bins at numerous locations around the county. Locally in northern Ocean County, there are collection bins at the Brick, Point Pleasant Borough, Toms River and Seaside Heights police department headquarters.
The program has been a resounding success, officials say.
“It can be difficult to comprehend the amount of medications to account for such a huge total,” said Della Fave. “The stiff backs of the detectives can certainly attest to it.”
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Editor’s Note: For more information on Operation Medicine Drop, click here.
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