On November 1, 2016, the Yorktown Police Department (YPD) disposed of 154 pounds of prescription and over-the-counter drugs collected through the Prescription Drug Disposal Unit. Since ASK partnered with the YPD on this initiative in May 2012, we have collected and disposed of 2,622 lbs of drugs – that is averaging out to be 49lbs of drugs per month!
The partnership began to reduce the supply of drugs that can potentially harm teens, adults and our environment. Our community is extremely fortunate to have a dedicated Prescription Drug Disposal Unit available to residents twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week in the lobby of the Yorktown Police Department.
ASK is encouraging those who would like to safely dispose of prescription or over-the-counter medications to consider making a visit to the lobby of the Yorktown Police Department. You can empty all your tablets, capsules and patches into a bag for drop off. You cannot drop off liquids, needles or syringes.
According to the 2011 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), more than six million Americans abuse prescription drugs. Among youth who are 12 to 17 years old, 7.4 percent report past year non-medical use of prescription drugs.
- Prescription drug abuse results in one death every 19 minutes in the US – according to the Center for Disease Control which has classified it as an “epidemic.”
- 4 million Americans abused prescription drugs for the first time in 2011—one-third of those Americans were teenagers.
Properly disposing of excess drugs is everyone’s responsibility as a matter of public safety. More than 70 percent of young people abusing prescription pain relievers get them through friends or family, a statistic that includes raiding the family medicine cabinet. Yorktown citizens don’t have to wait for a specific take-back day to clean out their medicine cabinets.
Safely disposing of expired or unused prescription medications is a critical step in helping protect our youth. The collection site is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Drugs can be dropped off with no questions asked.