DEA Prepares for Prescription Drug Take-Back Day

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – This Saturday, October 28, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., the Drug Enforcement Administration and its local law enforcement, community, and tribal partners will give the public its fourteenth opportunity in seven years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.

This DEA initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue.  Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse.  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.

DEA launched its prescription drug take back program when both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration advised the public that their usual methods of disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—posed potential safety and health hazards.  Last April, the public 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 law enforcement partners.  Overall, in its 13 previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in over 8.1 million pounds—more than 4,050 tons—of pills.

"Disposing of leftover painkillers or other addictive medicines in the house is one of the best ways to prevent a member of your family from becoming a victim of the opioid epidemic," said DEA Acting Administrator Robert W. Patterson.  "More people start down the path of addiction through the misuse of opioid prescription drugs than any other substance.  The abuse of these prescription drugs has fueled the nation’s opioid epidemic, which has led to the largest rate of overdose deaths this country has ever seen."

To locate collection sites nationwide, visit https://takebackday.dea.gov/#collection-locator, or call 1-800-882-9539.  In the Oklahoma City area, collection sites include the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s offices, at 201 North Shartel in Oklahoma City and at 8029 S.E. 29^th Street in Midwest City.  In Lawton, collection sites include the Comanche Nation Police Department, at 8527 N.W. Madische Road.  The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.  DEA cannot accept liquids, needles, or sharps.  The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs operates a similar, year-round prescription drug disposal program throughout the state.