DEA National Prescription Drug Take Back Day
Date: Saturday October 27
Time: 10:00am-2:00pm
Location: PBMC Northwell Health (Lobby), 1300 Roanoke Ave., Riverhead NY 11901
The Riverhead Community Coalition for Safe and Drug-Free Youth is hosting a medication take back event in conjunction with the DEA’s 16th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, October 27th in the lobby of Peconic Bay Medical Center from 10 AM – 2 PM. This event offers the convenience of drive-up disposal and includes giveaways for the participants.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), prescription drug abuse is the fastest growing drug problem in the United States, especially among teens. The CDC reports that one in five teens say they have taken prescription drugs without a doctor’s prescription and each day more than 2,000 teens use prescription drugs to get high for the first time. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found that nearly half of young people who inject heroin reported abusing prescription painkillers before starting to use heroin. Some individuals reported taking up heroin because it is cheaper and easier to obtain than prescription drugs. In addition, more people die from prescription drug overdoses than from all illegal drugs combined. Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S., outnumbering highway traffic fatalities.
To date, over 5,300 pounds of medication have been collected through the combination of take back events and the permanent drop box. In August 2014, the permanent medication drop box was installed in the lobby of the Riverhead Police Department at 210 Howell Avenue so that residents could safely and conveniently dispose of unused, unwanted, and expired medication 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The mission of the Riverhead Community Coalition for Safe and Drug-Free Youth is to engage collaborative partners in the planning, implementation and evaluation of strategies that prevent youth substance use. In 2018, the coalition was awarded a second 5-year Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Grant through the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).
