text: PD Wants Your Old Prescription Drugs - Summit, NJ Patch
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  Summit PD to participate in National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Sept. 29.
  Prescription drug abuse is a problem in towns across America. Peter Longini.
  http://summit.patch.com/articles/pd-wants-your-old-prescription-drugs/media_attachments/edit?upload_started=1369208019
  On September 29 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the Summit Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public another opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. Bring your medications for disposal to the Atrium of Summit City Hall at 512 Springfield Avenue, Summit. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
  This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety and health hazards. Four days after the first event, Congress passed the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010,which amends the Controlled Substances Act to allow an "ultimate user" 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. DEA is drafting regulations to implement the Act. Until new regulations are in place, local law enforcement agencies like the Summit Police Department and the DEA will continue to hold prescription drug take-back events every few months.
  For additional information please contact Lt. Michael J. Rabasca, Summit Detective Bureau Commander, at 908-277-9400. Editor's Note: This is a press release from the Summit Police Department.