Photo Courtesy of DEA
Visit clearyourcabinet.com to find out where you can safely dispose of unused prescription medication on Saturday, Oct. 27.
By Forum Staff
Help fight the opioid crisis by safely disposing of unused prescription drugs this Saturday during National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, State Attorney General Barbara Underwood said on Monday.
According to the AG, Clear Your Cabinet is a statewide initiative launched in April dedicated to helping New Yorkers take one of the simplest steps to prevent addiction by safely disposing of their unused drugs at drop-off sites around the Empire State. Clear Your Cabinet gives residents new tools to find their nearest drop-off locations and request email or text-message reminders to go and dispose of their unused medication. The AG’s office recommends that New Yorkers call to confirm the participation of all drop-off sites.
“We can all play a role in curbing the opioid crisis in New York and across the country,” Underwood said. “I’m asking every New Yorker to take a look at their medicine cabinet, identify any unused prescription drugs, and then visit clearyourcabinet.com to find out where you can safely dispose of them this Saturday.”
The website, clearyourcabinet.com, was built through a collaboration with volunteers from some of New York’s leading tech startups, beginning with a hackathon on the opioid crisis hosted by the Attorney General’s Office in March 2018.
In coordination with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the State Department of Environmental Conservation, law enforcement agencies, national and community pharmacies, non-profits, and other institutions across New York will be hosting safe drop-off sites for New Yorkers to bring unused medication this Saturday, Oct. 27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Disposal of unused prescriptions and over-the-counter medication at these locations is no-questions-asked and free. New Yorkers cannot bring illegal drugs or needles and sharps. As a last resort, for communities without a safe disposal site nearby, the DEC recommends mixing medications (do not crush tablets or capsules) with water and then adding salt, ashes, dirt, cat litter, coffee grounds, or another undesirable substance, to avoid accidental or intentional misuse of drugs. To prevent unintentional consumption by scavenging humans, pets, or wildlife, do not conceal discarded drugs in food.
According to Underwood, during the last National Prescription Drug Take Back Day in April 2018, 474.5 tons of unused medication were collected across the country. Nearly 40,000 pounds of unused medication were collected in New York alone; that’s heavier than the combined weight of six heavy-duty pickup trucks. By comparison, the largest criminal drug bust in the history of the New York Attorney General’s Office took approximately 70 pounds of heroin and fentanyl off the street.
According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, four out of five new heroin users start out by misusing prescription drugs; and according to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a majority of abused prescription drugs were obtained from family and friends, often from the home medicine cabinet.
According to the City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, there were 1,487 confirmed drug overdose deaths in 2017 in the five boroughs; nearly three quarters of all the overdose deaths involved heroin and/or fentanyl.
