DEA Prepares for Prescription Drug Take Back Day

DES MOINES, Iowa – On Saturday, October 28, 2017, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Des Moines Resident Office of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and other participating law enforcement agencies will give the public its 14th opportunity in 7 years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. The DEA cannot accept liquids, needles or sharps, only pills or patches.  The service is free and anonymous with no questions asked.

Last April, Americans turned in 450 tons (900,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at almost 5,500 sites operated by the DEA and more than 4,200 of its state and local law enforcement partners. Overall, in its 13 previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have collected over 8.1 million pounds—more than 4,050 tons—of pills.

Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 91 Americans die each day from an opioid overdose. Some painkiller abusers move on to heroin: Four out of five new heroin users started with painkillers.

This initiative addresses vital public safety and public health issues that surround medications languishing in home cabinets, becoming highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse.  In addition, flushing medications down the toilet or throwing them in the trash create separate potential safety and health hazards.

For more information or to locate a collection site near you, go the DEA Prescription Drug Take Back Day website at https://takebackday.dea.gov/#collection-locator where you can search by zip code, city, or state.

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Learn more about this release by calling Kevin E. VanderSchel at 515-473-9300, or by emailing him at Kevin.VanderSchel@usdoj.gov (link sends e-mail).