If you were to look in your medicine cabinet right now, would you see any unused medications? A majority of the United States population would answer yes. Four out of five patients who see a doctor for any illness leave with a prescription. These prescriptions either go unused or unfinished and remain sitting in medicine cabinets. These unused medicines cause 36% of accidental poisoning in children, contribute to the 19% of teenagers that abuse painkillers, and also cause the 700,000 emergency room visits a year from accidental ingestion.

Many people who begin experimenting with drugs will obtain it from their own family’s medicine cabinet. And because Americans are prescribed over 135 million prescriptions each month, there is plenty available to experiment with.

You can help prevent illegal and dangerous drug use by properly disposing of your unused medications. If everyone did this, there would be less drugs circulating on the streets and less addiction in this country. It could also help prevent the 40 deaths each day due to overdoses.

If you live in New Jersey, visit the website below to see a complete list of where you can dispose of your unused drugs. We now have over 100 convenient locations.

http://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/meddrop/locations.htm