Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. hosted a drug takeback event with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Juniper Park Civic Association on April 16, 2026. It provided an opportunity for the public to learn about the harms of improper disposal of prescription drugs (flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash) along with buying drugs on the street, taking pills from a friend, purchasing them online or from an unlicensed pharmacy or getting them right out of the family medicine cabinet. 

The event was hosted as part of the Juniper Park Civic Association’s monthly meeting but was also open to the public. It was attended by dozens of attendees and yielded 25 pounds of unwanted, unused and expired drugs. Many residents were appreciative of having the opportunity to de-clutter unwanted medications from their homes in a safe way. 

“Doing events like this is critically important because it raises awareness of why we need to dispose of these drugs safely, to protect families, to protect the environment, and raise awareness,” Addabbo said. “You are part of a national movement.”

Drug Take Back Day is a nationwide effort by the DEA which takes place twice a year on Saturday, April 25th and Saturday, October 24th but the mission is all-year-round. Senator Addabbo will bring the same event to the southern part of his district in the fall. 

During DEA National Drug Take Back Day events, the DEA and its law enforcement partners typically collect and dispose of between 570,000 and 750,000 pounds (roughly 285 to 375 tons) of unused, unwanted, or expired medications nationwide per event. 

Over 20 million pounds of medication have been collected since the program began in 2010. In 2025, the DEA New York Division and its partners collected approximately 25,501 pounds of unwanted, expired, and unused prescription drugs.

The DEA presentation was led by Frank Tarentino, Northeast Associate Chief of Operations, who revealed alarming statistics about the drug crisis in America, perpetuated mainly by cartels and leading to lethal overdoses of fentanyl. He said a lethal amount of fentanyl could fit on the tip of a pencil or is the equivalent to 10 grains of salt. The DEA brought sample vials to demonstrate the microscopic amount of deadly fentanyl and prescription pill bottles with faux drugs showing the typical ratio of real pills to tainted pills per bottle. 

Some 240 people die in the United States every day from a drug overdose or a poisoning, that’s the equivalent of a 737-plane falling out of the sky every day, according to Tarentino. In 2023, in a 12-month period, ending in July, 112,323 Americans died – that’s more people than could fill Giants Stadium. 

“That’s the loss,” Tarentino said. “That’s how dangerous this is.”

Fortunately, that number dropped to 84,076 – that’s a 24 percent decrease in 2024, thanks to the work of the DEA, according to Tarantino. 

“Our mission every single day is to save lives,” Tarentino said.

Some 39,000 pills have already been seized so far this year along with 8,000 pounds of fentanyl powder, that’s roughly equivalent to almost 300 million lethal doses and nearly the population of the United States

“So, I ask you, what is more dangerous, what is of more concern to you, as a community than this poison that’s on our streets,” Tarentino said. 

In 2022, during testing in DEA laboratories, 4 out of 10 pills were found to contain fentanyl and were lethal. In 2023 it increased to 6 out of ten. In 2024, it went to 7 out of 10. Tarantino compared ingesting the drugs to playing Russian Roulette. In 2024, the number of DEA tested fentanyl laced pills dropped by 29 percent, due to the agency’s hard work.

“Do not take a pill from anybody unless you get a pill from a doctor and you go to a pharmacy and you get it filled by a professional pharmacist,” Tarentino said. “If you are taking a pill that you get on the Internet, on a city street – I guarantee you it’s illegal, and I guarantee you, it’s going to be laced with fentanyl.”

“Operation Takeback, 16 years, 30 separate operations across the country of collecting licit, legal, prescribed medications that you have in your homes,” Tarantino continued. “What I just got done talking about is illicit drugs. These are two different problems. During Operation Takeback, we want you to be mindful about what’s in your home, what’s in your medicine cabinet – anything that’s old, anything that you don’t need, anything that you want to get rid of, we want you to bring it to one of these centers.”

The DEA offers year-round disposal options at authorized collector locations, such as CVS, Walgreens, or local police departments.

Senator Addabbo would like to extend his thanks to the DEA, Juniper Park Civic Association and Our Lady of Hope School for their support. 

Video of Tarentino’s presentation and Senator Addabbo’s remarks are available on Senator Addabbo’s YouTube channel at the links below.

https://youtu.be/gmnaJO0PeeQ

https://youtu.be/k0r6zxn7ywA