SUOZZI, MULVEY & KAIMAN ANNOUNCE:
ANONYMOUS DRUG DISPOSAL PROGRAM TO BE HELD SEPTEMBER 12TH FROM 10AM-2PM

Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey and Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman are happy to announce an upcoming Anonymous Drug Disposal Program that will be held on Saturday, September 12th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the following locations:

NCPD First Precinct: 900 Merrick Road, Baldwin NY 11510

NCPD Second Precinct: 7700 Jericho Turnpike, Woodbury, NY 11797

NCPD Third Precinct: 214 Hillside Avenue, Williston Park, NY 11596

NCPD Fourth Precinct: 1699 Broadway, Hewlett, NY 11557

NCPD Fifth Precinct: 1655 Dutch Broadway, Elmont, NY 11003

NCPD Sixth Precinct:100 Community Drive, Manhasset, NY 11030

NCPD Seventh Precinct: 3636 Merrick Road, Seaford, NY 11783

NCPD Eighth Precinct: 286 Wantagh Avenue, Levittown, NY

Town of North Hempstead Residents: Senator Michael J. Tully, Jr. Park,

1801 Evergreen Avenue, New Hyde Park, NY 11040

The Town of North Hempstead was the first municipality in the Nassau County area to host a drug disposal event earlier this year in June. The event, which was held within the confines of the Town of North Hempstead was very sucessful with over 400 pounds of medication and 125 vials of narcotics being collected.

“As many of you already know, on July 28th I held Nassau County’s second summit on the resurgence of Heroin,” said County Executive Suozzi. “One of the primary findings from the panel of experts assembled was that many of our youth begin their unfortunate journey to heroin addiction by first sharing pharmaceuticals stolen from the medicine cabinets of their home or the home of another.”

“Although we have been lucky enough to live in one of the safest counties in the nation we have seen a large increase in the number of people using and overdosing from heroin especially amongst our young people here in Nassau County,” said Commissioner Mulvey. “To that end, we are urging all residents to go through their home medicine cabinets and take advantage of this opportunity to safely dispose of their unwanted, unused, expired and/or illicit drugs at any of our drop off locations.“

At the heroin summit it was announced that the number of heroin deaths in Nassau County has hit a record number. In just the first six months of this year alone, twenty deaths have already ocurred. Eliminating these unwanted, unused and/or expired medications from Nassau County homes will go a long way to helping protect the young people of this county as well as children from acidental ingestion. Studies by the Partnership for a Drug Free America indicated that “1 in 5 teenagers abused a prescription pain medication; 1 in10 report abusing prescription stimulants, and 1 in 10 abused cough medicines.

“With prescription drug abuse among teens being touted as a gateway to the use of heroin and other illegal drugs, the recognition by state and local governments that there needs to be a more consistent response to the abuse of dangerous pharmaceuticals couldn’t be more timely,” said Supervisor Kaiman. “Partnering with Nassau County to launch this comprehensive pharmaceutical-collection event throughout North Hempstead and the County is the least we could do.”

In addition to being a public safety concern, the improper disposal of unused, unwanted and expired pharmaceuticals has emerged as one of the most complex and troubling environmental issues of the day. In the past, flushing expired and leftover prescription and over the counter medications down the toilet or washing them down sinks was considered the norm for disposing of these drugs. Routinely, they were also dumped in the trash that goes to the landfill. Now, studies have indicated that those means of disposal pose troublesome potential harm to the environment.

Acepted medications include pain killers, tranquilizers, anti-depressants, antibiotics, over-the-counter medications, pet medications, vitamins, supplements, inhalers and more. Drugs should be in their original containers if possible, and if not placed in zip loc bags that are labeled. ALL DROP OFFS WILL REMAIN ANONYMOUS. Items/Drugs that will not be acepted include: sharps (e.g. needles and syringes), IV bags, infectious waste, pharmaceutical waste not generated by households (e.g., clinics, pharmacies, hospitals, doctors, etc.), radioactive pharmaceuticals and vacines.

See event flyer