November 21, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 15 The Partnership for a Drug Free New Jersey hosted a program at Eisenhower Middle School last week. The program, which was sponsored by the Wyckoff Municipal Alliance and open to the general public, featured Special Agent Doug Collier of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New Jersey Division, who discussed the epidemic of prescription drug abuse and the steps parents can take to protect their families from this deadly addiction. The presentation included the Five-Step Citizens hear about prescription drug epidemic American Medicine Chest Challenge. Citizens are urged to take inventory of their prescription and over-the-counter medicines; secure their medicine chests; dispose of unused, unwanted, and expired medicine at home or at an American Medicine Chest Challenge Disposal site; take medicine(s) exactly as prescribed; and talk to children about the danger of prescription drug abuse. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently characterized prescrip- DEA Special Agent Rich Grosfelt, Wyckoff Township Administrator Robert Shannon, Municipal Alliance Chairperson Wendy Coffey, DEA Special Agent Doug Collier, Wyckoff Mayor Christopher DePhillips, and Executive Director of Partnership for a Drug Free New Jersey Angelo Valente. tion drug abuse as an epidemic, reporting that the death toll from overdoses of prescription painkillers has more than tripled in the past decade. Every day, more than 40 people die from overdoses involving nar- cotic pain relievers. According to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, 70 percent of people who abuse prescription pain relievers obtain them from friends or relatives.