By: Richard L. Smith
Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll, Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon, Chief of Detectives Robert McNally, Morris Plains Borough Chief of Police Mike Koroski, Morris Township Chief of Police Robert Shearer, and Randolph Township Chief of Police Will Harzula reported the first collection day of the Operation Take Back program yielded 14 bags and four containers of surrendered medications.
Officials said Operation Take Back is a semi-annual event coordinated nationally by the United States Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in which law enforcement agencies at the state, county, and municipal level work collectively to host Operation Take Back across the nation.
The goal of Operation Take Back is to encourage the public to anonymously turn over unused, unwanted, or expired prescription medicine, which was weighed and properly disposed of by law enforcement officials.
Officials said residents of Morris County were able to bring unused or expired prescription drugs to three designated locations staffed by county law enforcement - Shoprite of Greater Morristown in Hanover Township, the ACME Supermarket in Randolph, and the Stop and Shop Supermarket in Morris Plains.
The total weight of materials collected from each location are as follows:
• Shoprite of Greater Morristown: 105 pounds • Stop and Shop of Morris Plains: 110 pounds • ACME of Randolph: 114 pounds Total: 329 pounds
In 2022, Morris County officials said Operation Take Back collections held in spring and autumn in Morris County locations yielded a combined 640 pounds.
Residents can utilize any other permanent drop box locations listed at http://safehealthymorris.org/dropbox
In a joint statement, Prosecutor Carroll and Sheriff Gannon said the following:
“Year after year, Operation Take Back in Morris County has consistently yielded hundreds of pounds of expired and unused medications. The community relies on this service, and we thank our residents for being active participants in combatting prescription drug misuse.
We also thank our law enforcement and commercial partners for making this annual event a great success.”