Tomorrow: Prescription Pill Take Back Day – Get Rid Of Your Expired Or Unused Drugs Safely!

Prescription drug abuse is on the rise, and, for the youth, is often their gateway to harder drugs.

After marijuana, prescription drugs and over the counter medication are the most commonly abused drugs among youth, according the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and approximately one in nine people aged 12 to 25 abused prescription drugs in the past year.

It’s been rearing its ugly head locally, too. Our former head of the 61st Precinct, Georgios Mastrokostas, warned that prescription drug abuse has been on the rise in the area since 2009, and that addiction has not only led to harder drugs, but also has fueled the crime spikes in thefts, burglaries, car break-ins and other property-related crimes. Those claims have already been repeated by his successor, Captain John Chell.

And it’s not just the top brass saying it. When we were on scene at yesterday’s drug bust, one of the under-covers was telling us that most of the suspects they arrest for drugs began their addictions with prescription medications they found in their parents’ medical cabinets.

Don’t give your kids the opportunity to make a bad choice. Get rid of your unused and expired medications, with the help of the NYPD.

The NYPD Community Affairs Bureau has announced that local precincts will be participating this Saturday, September 29, in the 5th Annual National Prescription Pill Take Back Day.

You can drop off unused medication at various locations and 22 police precincts throughout the city, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m..

The 61st Precinct at 2575 Coney Island Avenue is a drop-off site, and other can be found here.

For Sabbath observers, a drug take-back event is scheduled for the 66th Precinct at 5822 16th Avenue today, September 28, 2012, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Thank you to State Senator Marty Golden for tipping us off about the event.