PORT NORRIS — The N.J. State Police Port Norris Station, will be hosting an Operation Medicine Cabinet New Jersey local collection site as part of the first statewide medicine disposal day in the nation.

The event will take place at the barracks 8861 Highland St. between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m on Saturday, Nov. 14, open to all residents of Commercial, Downe, Fairfield, Lawrence, and Maurice River townships.

It has been organized to encourage local community residents to properly dispose of their unused, unwanted and expired medicine.

The statewide effort, with over 250 participating New Jersey police departments, is being spearheaded by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey Division (DEA), the N.J. Office of the Attorney General and the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey.

Cumberland County residents looking for information on the abuse of prescription and over-the-counter drugs and local collection location information may visit www.operationmedicinecabinetnj.com

According to Sgt. 1st Class Kuhar, station commander of the local State Police, barracks, “As a law enforcement agency we are pleased to be involved in this statewide initiative. Anytime you can remove drugs off the street that otherwise could end up in the hands of a young person is a positive.”

Gerard P. McAleer, the special agent in charge of the DEA, says, “We are very excited about the widespread support and enthusiasm Operation Medicine Cabinet New Jersey is gaining in our coordinated efforts to bring public attention to this issue that is impacting our youth, our families, and our communities. Law enforcement is concerned with the alarming trend in the misuse and abuse of prescription drugs, with potential access to these drugs coming from the medicine cabinets of family and friends.”

According to N.J. Attorney General Anne Milgram, the operation will reduce the availability of potent drugs that lead kids down a path to addiction,

“We can't break a cycle of dependence if powerful prescription drugs are stashed in our own homes, tucked away in drawers and cabinets.” she says.

Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey executive director Angelo M. Valente, adds, “With Operation Medicine Cabinet, we are calling on New Jersey residents to see their medicine cabinets through new eyes—as an access point for potential misuse and abuse of over-the-counter and prescription medicine by young people.”

According to McAleer and Valente, the 2007 study by the National Study of Drug-Use and Health, 70 percent of people who abuse prescription pain relievers say they got them from friends or relatives and the National Institute of Drug Abuse reports that upwards of 9 million people use prescription medication for non-medical uses.

They note that the 2007 Partnership for a Drug Free New Jersey Principals Survey found that half of the principals surveyed said that prescription drugs are abused more than twice that of ecstasy and cocaine by New Jersey Middle School students.

“What is equally disturbing, is that 47 percent of New Jersey parents of middle school students said they know a little or just about nothing about prescription drug abuse, according to the 2009 PDFNJ Parents Tracking Survey,” says Valente.