Police Department participates in Operation Medicine Cabinet New Jersey

Nov, 03-2009 5:52 pm

To the editor,

An alarming number of New Jersey’s youth are intentionally abusing prescription medicines to get high.

The 2007 study by the National Study of Drug?Use and Health found that 70 percent of people who abuse prescription pain relievers say they got them from friends or relatives. A recent study on drug use by New Jersey middle school students conducted by the Partnership for a Drug Free New Jersey (PDFNJ) found that in half the schools surveyed prescription drugs are abused more than twice that of ecstasy and cocaine. What’s worse, another PDFNJ study found that 47 percent of the parents of middle school students know very little about prescription drug abuse.

To help combat this growing threat to our nation’s children, the United States Senate has deemed October 2009 as National Prescription Drug Abuse Awareness Month. Here in Brigantine we’re taking things even further by hosting Operation Medicine Cabinet New Jersey (OMCNJ) on Nov. 14. OMCNJ is for community residents to properly dispose of their unused, unwanted and expired medicine. This statewide initiative is the first of its kind in the nation. The statewide effort is being spearheaded by the Drug?Enforcement Administration?New Jersey Division, the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General and the Partnership for a Drug?Free New Jersey, Brigantine Police Department as well as dozens of federal, state, county and local law enforcement, and prevention organizations in the state.

Prescription drug abuse is a growing problem in New Jersey, and the easiest way to combat it is to properly dispose of your old medicine. OMCNJ is the best way to do just that, so on Nov. 14 visit our local collection site, the Brigantine Community Center site at 42nd Street, and drop off your unused, unwanted or expired medicine. For more information, please visit www.operationmedicinecabinetnj.com.



Lt. Jim Bennett

Brigantine Police Department