Twenty-eight-hundred pounds of unused, unneeded prescription medications from all over Ocean County go up in smoke, in the most recent collections through Project Medicine Drop.

Project Medicine Drop (Ocean Co. Prosecutor's Office)
Project Medicine Drop (Ocean Co. Prosecutor's Office)
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Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato said that the tonnage, accumulated since late July 2016 and tabulated October 26, is one of the three highest totals among eight collections since the program began in summer 2014.

Project Medicine Drop (Ocean Co. Prosecutor's Office)
Project Medicine Drop (Ocean Co. Prosecutor's Office)
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Drop boxes stand at the entrances of 17 police departments: Barnegat, Berkeley Township, Brick, Harvey Cedars, Jackson, Lacey Township, Lakewood, Little Egg Harbor, Long Beach, Manchester, Ocean Township, Plumsted, Point Pleasant, Seaside Heights, Stafford, Toms River and Tuckerton. The goal is to keep excess meds from landing on the streets.

"There is no question that unused medications many times end up in the wrong hands and are used illegally," Coronato said in prepared remarks. "In the worst case scenarios these forgotten pain killing medications lead to addiction or teens becoming unwitting drug dealers".

Project Medicine Drop (Ocean Co. Prosecutor's Office)
Project Medicine Drop (Ocean Co. Prosecutor's Office)
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As you can tell by the photos, the off-loading required muscle. Prosecutor's Office spokesman Al Della Fave quipped, "We're considering making this task part of a new physical fitness program."

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