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Croton Sponsors Prescription Drug Take Back Day

CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. – Unused or expired prescription medications often sit on cabinet shelves because people don’t know where or how to dispose of them. The Croton Community Coalition is sponsoring a Prescription Drug Take Back Day location in Croton, because these drugs can be so easily abused by teens.

“We understand that in Westchester County and on national level prescription drug abuse is being taken advantage of by our youth,” said Wayne Francis, Coordinator of the Croton Community Coalition. “It’s another way we provide an environmental strategy to deny access to our young people to drugs. It’s a preventative measure,” he said.

“Prescription drugs are now the second most abused category of drugs in the United States, and we know that some teens are getting these drugs from medicine cabinets of friends and family,” County Executive Rob Astorino said. “I urge everyone to clean out their medicine cabinets of unused prescriptions and dispose of them properly at one of these events.”

According to Narcanon, four factors which can influence teens to abuse prescription medication are acceptability, availability, stress and initiation of prescription drug patterns after medical treatment. A 2009 study by the Centers for Disease Control found that 20 percent of US high school students had “taken a prescription drug, such as Oxycontin, Percocet, Vicodin, Adderall, Ritalin, or Xanax, without a doctor's prescription.”

The Croton Community Coalition is sponsoring a Prescription Drug Take Back Day location in Croton, at Croton Commons, located at 171 Riverside Avenue, in the village. The take back will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., on Saturday, October 29. The location is one of 12 in Westchester.

When bringing unused medications – whether prescription or over the counter – keep them in their original bottle or container. Hypodermic needles will not be accepted; instead, place them in puncture-proof containers and throw in the trash.

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