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September 26th is National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day

September 25, 2015 at 4:31 PM ET by Mario Moreno
Summary: 
If you have unneeded or expired prescription drugs at home, you can drop them off at a safe, legal collection site in your neighborhood from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Saturday, September 26, is National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day. If you have unneeded or expired prescription drugs at home, you can drop them off at a safe, legal collection site in your neighborhood from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

More than a hundred people, on average, die every day from a drug overdose in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that deaths from drug overdose have been rising steadily over the past two decades and have become the leading cause of injury death in America. The majority of people who use prescription pain medicine non-medically report that they obtained the drugs from family or friends, often from their home medicine cabinet.  Opioid drug abuse has devastated thousands of communities across the country. As ONDCP Director Michael Botticelli recently put it, “This is an epidemic of the medicine cabinet.”

The safe disposal of these drugs is a pillar of the Obama Administration’s plan to prevent prescription drug misuse.  

Many former and current Drug-Free Communities grantees are partnering locally to implement Take-Back Day.  

  • Partners for Prevention in Allegany County (NY) is teaming up with the Allegany County Sheriff’s Department, Bolivar Fire Department, Alfred Station Fire Department, Allegany Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, and local pharmacists to host two locations in Allegany County. They will set up at the Bolivar and Alfred Station Fire Departments on September 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  Palomar Health Communities Coalition Escondido (CA) also will be participating in the National Take-Back Day on September 26th. Coalition members will be at the event handing out literature about the safe storage and proper disposal of prescription drugs.

Members of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program are also participating.  

  • The Southwest Border HIDTA/San Diego-Imperial Region, having supported the Take-Back program for several years via the Prevention Initiative with public awareness efforts and advertisements in the local media, will fund a full-page ad this year in the San Diego Union Tribune.  The Fresno (CA) Area Surveillance Team (FAST) participates in Take-Back events every year.  Group members distribute burn boxes to allied law enforcement Take-Back locations, then help collect the boxes after the events.  FAST also hosts its own Take-Back location.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, acting under the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act passed by Congress in 2010, has issued a new rule that allows for more convenient and environmentally responsible disposal of prescription drugs in communities across the country. ONDCP is working with Federal agencies and communities to make it easier for those communities to set up permanent disposal programs locally.

Find a take-back location near you today.