Ossining Prescription Drug Take-Back

People here in Ossining will now be able to safely dispose of their prescription drugs anytime. There will be a new collection bin placed inside the lobby of the Village of Ossining Police Department's headquarters. Here are the details from the Ossining Police and the Ossining Office of Emergency Management:

As part of National Prescription Take-Back Day on Saturday, April 28, Ossining is introducing a new MedReturn Drug Collection Unit, permanently installed inside the front door at 88 Spring Street. The MedReturn unit will be there for you, secure and anonymous, 24/7 to collect unwanted drugs and make sure they are disposed of properly before they can be misused.

Many Americans are not aware that unused or expired medicines are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the United States are increasing at alarming rates, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to abuse of these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.

You can play an important role in keeping these drugs off the street, out of our water supply, away from our wildlife, and most important, unavailable to our children.

Here’s what you can do:

1. Clean out your medicine chest today and gather all unused, expired, unwanted prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs. Leave them in the original container or bottle if possible.

2. Visit the Ossining Police Station on Saturday, April 28, beginning at 10 a.m. to deposit these unwanted meds in the MedReturn unit. You can safely dispose of unwanted prescription medications, patches, ointments, drug samples, over-the-counter medications, vitamins, and pet medications.

3. The next time you set your clocks and replace your smoke-detector batteries, clean out your medicine chest and drop any unwanted drugs at the Ossining Police Station MedReturn.

The MedReturn Drug Collection Unit is an initiative of the Ossining Communities That Care Coalition (CTC) and the Village of Ossining Police Department. It was funded by a Drug-Free Community grant from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). CTC is a coalition of concerned individuals and diverse community organizations whose goal is to reduce the use of alcohol and drugs in Ossining and prevent underage drinking.

To learn more about safe disposal of medicines, visithttp://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/BuyingUsingMedicineSafely/EnsuringSafeUseofMedicine/SafeDisposalofMedicines/ucm186187.htm

To learn more about prescription drug abuse, visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/prescription-drug-abuse

To learn more about Ossining Communities That Care Coalition, visit www.ossiningctc.org.