Jimino: 850 Pounds Of Potentially Dangerous Prescription Medication Disposed Of Through Collection Program

submitted by James Gordon
Rensselaer County Executive Kathleen M. Jimino has released the results of the 2016 Prescription Drug Take Back Day event within Rensselaer County. The County, in conjunction with its Underage Drinking Coalition and participating law enforcement agencies throughout the County, and the DEA’s office, participated in a prescription medication collection initiative on Saturday, April 30th to help residents safely dispose of their unneeded prescription medications.  [private]The seven collections points throughout Rensselaer County netted a total of 850 pounds of prescription drugs that were turned in by 323 residents to be disposed of and destroyed.Jimino said utilizing an average pill weight of .5 grams, approximately 771,000 pills were collected to be destroyed preventing them from falling into the hands of youth and others who were not prescribed the medication.
“Events such as this Prescription Drug Take Back Day allow our communities the opportunity to safely dispose of the toxins that can plague our communities. When you see the amount collected in just a few short hours you realize the abundance of pills that are out there that could set someone on the wrong path or cause a tragedy,” said Rensselaer County Executive Kathleen M. Jimino.
As part of the program seven collection points were designated where residents can confidentially and safely dispose of their unneeded prescription and over-the-counter medication.  In addition to prescription and over the counter medications, samples of medications, vitamins, supplements, and herbals were accepted as well as.
The results per collection point are:
• Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Department (West  Sand Lake Fire House): 150 lbs
• East Greenbush Police Department: 231 lbs
• Hoosick Falls Police Department: 54 lbs
• Schodack Police Department: 101 lbs
• Troy Police Department: 194 lbs
• New York State Police (Brunswick/Schodack): 11 lbs
• Rensselaer City Police Department:  112 lbs
In concluding her remarks Jimino said, “It takes an active and strong community to ensure events such as this are a huge success annually. It is imperative that they remain successful because that means there is less of an opportunity for youth in our community to come in contact with these drugs and potentially head down a destructive path. I commend and sincerely thank those agencies who opened their doors for this event, the community members that spread the message, and to those who responsibly turned over their unused medications. Prescription drug abuse is an epidemic that is being battled on multiple fronts and the more engaged our communities are with events like this, the more positive results we will continue to realize.”[/private]