DEA National Rx Take Back Day at Peconic Bay Medical Center
Date: Saturday April 28
Time: 10:00am-2:00pm
Location: Peconic Bay Medical Center, 1300 Roanoke Ave, Riverhead, NY 11901
The Riverhead Community Coalition for Safe and Drug-Free Youth is participating in the DEA National Rx Take Back Day on Saturday, April 28th in the lobby of Peconic Bay Medical Center from 10 AM – 2 PM. This event will give community members an opportunity to dispose of unused, unwanted and expired medications conveniently by just driving up to the entrance. The event is free of charge and will include giveaways for the participants.
To date, over 4,500 pounds of medication have been collected through the combination of the 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. Safely disposing of medication through the drop box and take back events is important in order to prevent youth prescription drug and heroin abuse. Many youth report abusing prescription drugs for the first time by taking it from their parent’s or someone else’s medicine cabinet. 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. In fact, prescription drug deaths are now the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S., outnumbering highway traffic fatalities.
