U.S. Department
of Justice
DEA Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is October 27
BIRMINGHAM – Saturday is the Drug Enforcement Administration’s 16th National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town.
“Opioids that you no longer need are not just loaded guns sitting in your medicine cabinet. They are loaded guns with a hair trigger and no safety,” Town said. The opioid crisis in America is the deadliest in our history. Let’s do our part to protect our loved ones from prescription drug abuse, opioid addiction, and even potential progression to heroin use, and clean out our medicine cabinets and drop those drugs off for proper disposal.”
This weekend, more than 5,400 collection sites manned by more than 4,400 partner law enforcement agencies will be open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time. The public can find a nearby collection site at www.DEATakeBack.com
or by calling 800-882-9539. (DEA cannot accept liquids, needles or sharps.)
The National Prescription Drug Take Back Day Initiative addresses a critical public safety and public health issue. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the United States continue to be alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration have advised the public that flushing their prescription drugs down the toilet or throwing them in the trash pose potential safety and health hazards. The DEA prescription drug take back program provides an anonymous and safe way to dispose of prescription medications.
National Take Back Day has received robust public support since its inception in 2010. Last April, the public turned in 456 tons (912,305 pounds) of prescription drugs at more than 5,800 sites operated by the DEA and nearly 4,700 of its local and tribal partners nationwide. In the New Orleans Field Division, the following amounts were collected last April: Louisiana – 4,800 pounds; Mississippi – 4,455 pounds; Alabama – 6,074 pounds; and Arkansas – 27,809 pounds.
Parents and children are encouraged to educate themselves about the dangers of drugs by visiting DEA’s interactive websites at www.JustThinkTwice.com, www.GetSmartAboutDrugs.com and www.dea.gov.
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