Politics & Government
TOWN OF OYSTER BAY TO HOLD PRESCRIPTION & OVER-THE-COUNTER DRUG COLLECTION
Town Supervisor John Venditto announced that the Town, in cooperation with the Nassau County Police Department, will hold a collection program for expired or unwanted prescription and over-the-counter medications on Saturday, October 16, at Town Hall South, 977 Hicksville Road in Massapequa, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The program will be in addition to the S.T.O.P. (Stop Throwing Out Pollutants) and E-Waste Recycling programs already scheduled for that day and location.
"Earlier this year, the Town hosted a very successful drug collection program at our Department of Public Works in Syosset," Supervisor Venditto said. "Managing unused medications is an environmental, as well as a safety concern. Traditionally, we had been told to flush unwanted medications down the drain or toilet rather than keeping them around, where they could wind up being misused. We now know that flushing creates a new and growing problem in the environment. Also, wastewater treatment plants are not designed to remove or process many compounds found in medications, so they end up being discharged into our surface and ground water. Additionally, recent statistics indicate that one in five teens reports intentionally misusing someone else's prescription drugs. Nearly half said they got the medications from friends and relatives for free, often by raiding the family medicine cabinet.
"This program is only for solid medications, such as pills and capsules; no liquids will be accepted. The medications should be brought to the program in original containers. All confidential information should be removed, leaving only the name of the medication. The containers will be collected in special bins. At the end of the collection program, the police will take the drugs to be incinerated."
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The Drug Collection Program, open to Town residents, is being run with the cooperation of the Office of the Nassau County Executive, the Office of the Nassau County District Attorney, the Nassau County Police Department, the Nassau County Heroin Task Force, and YES Community Counseling Center.
For more information, call the Department of Environmental Resources at 677-5943.