Prescription med disposal

Nine locations in Sussex County will be collection sites for Operation Medicine Cabinet New Jersey as part of the first statewide medicine disposal day in the nation. The event will take place at the following locations between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 14. Andover Medicine Shoppe, Baker’s Pharmacy in Sussex, Byram ShopRite, Hardyston Township Municipal Building, Hopatcong Medicine Shoppe, Hopatcong Post Office, Newton ShopRite, Sparta Police Department and Vernon Township Police Department. This initiative, open to all residents, was organized by the Sussex County Coalition for Healthy & Safe Families, a program of the Center for Prevention and Counseling, along with local law enforcement in an effort to encourage local community residents properly dispose of their unused, unwanted and expired medicine. Sussex County residents looking for information on the abuse of prescription and over-the-counter drugs and local collection location information should visit www.centerforprevention.org for more details. According to Becky Carlson, Assistant Director at the Center for Prevention and Counseling, abuse of painkillers by 12th grade students increased 42 percent from 2006 to 2008. “Prescription drug abuse among youth and young adults is a growing problem not only nationally but right here in Sussex County,” Carlson said. For more information about Operation Medicine Cabinet, call the Center for Prevention and Counseling at 973-383-4787.