SOMERVILLE — The Somerset County Sheriff's Office will be coordinating the American Medicine Chest Challenge (AMCC) in  Somerset County , N.J.

“This program will ensure that your old, unused prescription drugs are disposed of properly,” said Sheriff Frank J. Provenzano. 

The event will take place Saturday, Nov. 13, in communities across the country.  This initiative will challenge  Somerset County residents to take the Five-Step American Medicine Chest Challenge:

§         Take inventory of your prescription and over-the-counter medicine.

§         Lock your medicine chest.

§         Dispose of your unused, unwanted, and expired medicine in your home or at an American Medicine Chest Challenge Disposal site.

§         Take your medicine(s) exactly as prescribed.

§         Talk to your children about the dangers of prescription drug abuse.

To help combat this growing threat to our nation’s children,  Somerset County is hosting the AMCC on Nov. 13 at the Sheriff’s Office, located on the lower level of the county administration building at 20 Grove St .  Hours will be 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For guidelines about disposing of medications at home, visit the AMCC website at  www.americanmedicinechestchallenge.com

The most recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows prescription medicines to be the most abused drugs by Americans, other than marijuana, and found that 70 percent of people who abuse prescription pain relievers say they got them from friends or relatives. A recent study on drug use by teens by the Partnership for a Drug Free America (PDFA) found that one in nine children are abusing prescription pain relievers to get high.

"This challenge will raise awareness about the dangers of abusing prescription drugs and reduce the availability of potent drugs that lead kids down a path to addiction,'' explained American Medicine Chest Challenge Chief Executive Officer Angelo M. Valente. “With the American Medicine Chest Challenge we are calling on 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.”

The American Medicine Chest Challenge is gained the national support of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the PDFA and the American College of Emergency Physicians.