DEA National Prescription Drug Take Back Day Seizes Over 300 Tons of Medications Throughout U.S.

By: ASAP

On April 22, 2023, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) hosted its 24^th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, encouraging citizens to discard unwanted, unused and/or expired medications. We are pleased to share that the DEA collected over 300 tons of medications, which ultimately aids in our nation’s public safety mission.

The results of this event were remarkable, with credit due to 4,497 law enforcement agencies’ participation, 4,955 collection sites available throughout the county, and a total of 663,725 lbs. (equaling 332 tons) of medication safely turned over to the DEA. Since this campaign launched in 2010, a total of 17,700,454 lbs. of medications, equaling 8,650 tons, have been collected and safely disposed of.

“The drug overdose epidemic in the United States is a clear and present public health, public safety, and national security threat,” according to the DEA’s Take Back Day mission. “DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day reflects DEA’s commitment to Americans’ safety and health, encouraging the public to remove unneeded medications from their homes as a measure of preventing medication misuse and opioid addiction from ever starting.”

Reducing overdoses, and overdose fatalities, is a priority for the DEA and the agency’s commitment to public health and safety. The initiative of this bi-annual national event appreciates communities stepping up to dispose of unneeded medications, preventing potentially harmful situations if these drugs make it into the wrong hands.

For more information on the DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, disposal site locations, or details on October’s event, please visit the DEA’s Take Back Day website.

Retrieved information and statistics from the DEA’s Public Affairs archive.