Justice Department Announces DEA Prescription Drug Take-Back for Oct. 22nd

BEAUMONT, Texas –Acting United States Attorney Brit Featherston and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Joe Arabit announced today that DEA will reprise one of its most popular community programs this weekend:  National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.  On Saturday October 22 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. the public can dispose of their unused, unwanted prescription medications at one of 4,700 collection sites nationwide, operated by 3,800 local law enforcement agencies and other community partners.  The service is free of charge, no questions asked.

America is presently experiencing an epidemic of addiction, overdose and death due to abuse of prescription drugs, particularly opioid painkillers. 6.4 million Americans age 12 and over—2.4 percent of the population—abuse prescription drugs, according to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health released last month, more than abuse cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, and methamphetamine combined.  Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of injury-related death in the United States, eclipsing deaths from motor vehicle crashes or firearms.  The majority of prescription drug abusers report that they obtain their drugs from friends and family, including from the home medicine cabinet.

Last April, during its 11^th Take Back Day, the DEA and over 4,200 of its national, tribal, and community law enforcement partners collected 893,498 pounds (about 447 tons) of unwanted prescription drugs at almost 5,400 collection sites.  Since the program began six years ago, about 6.4 million pounds (about 3,200 tons) of drugs have been collected. That’s more than a quarter pound of pills for each of the 25 million children aged 12 to 17 in America, pills that won’t result in abuse or overdose.

The DEA Beaumont office, along with the Cleveland, Jasper, Lamar University, Liberty, Lumberton, Orange, Port Arthur, Silsbee and Sour Lake Police Departments, will set up collection sites at the following locations: 

Cleveland PD- 226 Peach Street, Cleveland, Texas 77327

Jasper PD- 555 S Main Street. Jasper, Texas 75951

Lamar University PD- 211 Red Bird Lane, Beaumont, Texas 77710

Liberty PD- 1906 Lakeland Drive, Liberty, Texas 77575

Lumberton PD-120 East Chance Rd #A, Lumberton, Texas 77657

Orange PD- 201 8^th Street, Orange, Texas 77630

Port Arthur PD- 645 4^th Street, Port Arthur, Texas 77641

Silsbee PD- 1104 North 5^th Street, Silsbee, Texas 77656

Sour Lake PD- 625 Highway 105 West, Sour Lake, Texas 77659
Beaumont Rogers Park- 1455 Dowlen Rd, Beaumont, Texas 77706

Collection sites across the nation can be found by going to www.dea.gov. This site is continuously updated with new take-back locations.