Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz (D-Sheepshead Bay, Manhattan Beach, Brighton Beach) is reminding constituents and city residents that as of this Sunday, Jan. 6, the Drug Take Back Act goes into effect.
Cymbrowitz was a major proponent of the multi-sponsored the legislation (A.9576), which is expected to serve as an effective tool to stem the opioid epidemic that has devastated too many lives and will go a long way toward preventing the improper disposal of medications.
“As the former Chair of the Assembly’s Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Committee, I have always advocated for safe, accessible and permanent drug collection sites where residents can dispose of unused prescription medications,” Cymbrowitz said. “Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse.”
The new law requires all drug manufacturers doing business in the state to implement a take-back program in which both chain and mail-order pharmacies offer on-site collection or prepaid envelopes for New Yorkers to dispose of unused medication.
The program, which has drug manufacturers foot the costs, is part of the state’s continued efforts to fight the opioid epidemic. It piggybacks on Cymbrowitz’ 2012 I-STOP legislation that created the first real-time prescription-drug database in the country.
Opioid overdoses claimed the lives of more than 42,000 Americans in 2016. In New York State, the rate of opioid overdose deaths doubled between 2010 and 2015.
Cymbrowitz noted that while a state law passed in 2015 allowed pharmacies and other Drug Enforcement Administration-authorized collectors to collect unused controlled substances in New York, and the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) recently launched a pilot program that provides take-back receptacles at participating pharmacies, hospitals and long-term care facilities, these programs were voluntary and participation was low.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo vetoed a previous effort to require chain pharmacies statewide, and mail-order pharmacies, to participate in drug take back programs, Cymbrowitz said.
“Retail participation is critical in reaching consumers and getting the most benefit from a take-back program. Just as individuals can return tires, car batteries and motor oil to the businesses they purchased them from, New Yorkers should be able dispose of drugs, or obtain a prepaid mail-back envelope, at a pharmacy,” said Cymbrowitz.
Manufacturers will be responsible for all costs from public education and awareness to collection, transport and destruction, and pharmacies will provide methods for convenient drop-off and collection under the new law.
The program will also help ensure that these drugs are not improperly disposed of by flushing down the toilet or throwing them in the trash, which can cause them to seep into the water supply.
“The opioid crisis has brought tragedy and pain to far too many families in New York State, and in so many of these instances addiction starts with a young person taking an unused, forgotten-about painkiller out of a medicine cabinet,” said Cymbrowitz. “This new Drug Take Back Act will make it easier for people to dispose of these medications before they can do irrevocable harm to a loved one.”
