BRIELLE — The borough’s police department held the second day of its yearly two-part drug take back event on Oct. 28. In conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Administration [DEA]’s National Take Back Day, the department invited residents to drop off unwanted and expired medication from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Part of the effort was to ensure medicine was handled by authorities and not in potential drug trafficking.
“This is clearly a statewide problem [drug trafficking],” said Department Det. Brandon Cusack. “This place is a good little town to be in, but we just want to make sure that these pills don’t get into the wrong hands.”
In a statement on its website, the DEA labels National Take Back Day as its “commitment to Americans’ safety and health, encouraging the public to remove unneeded medications from their homes as a measure of preventing medication misuse and opioid addiction from ever starting.”
This year was the DEA’s 24th annual Take Back Day, and according to its website, as of April, the agency and its 4,497 participating police departments nationwide obtained 663,725 pounds of prescription medication in 2023, which is equivalent to 32 tons. T
he State of New Jersey had 243 departments participate in 2023, the fifth-most in the country behind Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio. The borough’s total amount of medicine on Oct. 28 anonymously dropped off was estimated at 34 pounds, which is “a lot considering the miniscule size of the borough,” according to Mr. Cusack. The total numbers for Oct. 28 nationwide have yet to be announced.
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