Chatham Borough Police Hold Prescription Drug Take Back

The Chatham Borough Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration will hold a prescription drug take back next month.

Authorities will collect the expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on April 26 at CVS Pharmacy on Main Street.

This will be the eighth take back initiative in three years. The service is free and anonymous with no questions asked. The DEA, however, cannot accept liquids, needles or sharps. Only pills or patches will be accepted.

There were 324 tons of prescription drugs turned in at more than 4,000 locations nationwide in October, according to a statement from the Chatham Borough Police.

"When those results are combined with what was collected in its seven previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in over 3.4 million pounds—more than 1,700 tons—of pills," according to the statement.

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” (a patient or their family member or pet 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.