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DEA Collects Prescription Drugs In Larchmont

LARCHMONT, N.Y. – Nearly 30 people showed up in Larchmont on Saturday to turn in prescription medications that are either expired or not being used anymore, said Jim Place, a group supervisor with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

Known as the Drug Take-Back, the event took place nationwide Saturday. 

Place sat in the Larchmont Police Station to give residents the chance to properly dispose of prescription drugs. Place said the reason for the event is that medication is often left in cabinets where someone for whom the pills are not prescribed takes them. Other times, the medications belong to someone's parent who has died recently.

Place said the two most common types of drugs taken from medicine cabinets are narcotics and Oxycontin.

Another reason for the program is to keep people from flushing drugs down the toilet or tossing them into a landfill, where they can eventually contaminate the water supply.

“We end up gathering all the medications in one place to protect people from drugs and do it in an environmentally safe way,” Place said. “I think it’s very essential and important to have a place to dispose of medication and get prescription drugs out of the medicine cabinet.”

Place said that the campaign to collect and dispose of prescription medication properly began in 2010. The drive, which takes place every six months, is held in 300 sites across the state. For more information go to the DEA’s website.

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