Turn In Expired Prescription Medications At Police Precincts For Safe Disposal On September 26

If you have unused or expired prescription medication sitting around your home, there’s an opportunity coming up that will allow you to dispose of it safely.

On Saturday, September 26 from 10am-2pm, the 78th Precinct (65 6th Avenue at Bergen Street) and the 61st Precinct (2575 Coney Island Avenue at Avenue W) will be participating in the Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, allowing people a chance to turn in potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.

They can only accept pills or patches — no liquids or needles/sharps — and the service is completely anonymous, with no questions asked.

The DEA provides the service as an alternative to other, more dangerous means of disposal, like throwing pills in the trash, where they can be retrieved and abused or illegally sold; or flushing them, which they say can contaminate the water supply.

The DEA Department of Public Affairs stated, “In the previous nine Take-Back events nationwide from 2010-2014, 4,823,251 pounds, or 2,411 tons of drugs were collected.”

For additional information, contact the DEA at 1-800-882-9539.