Record Amount of Unwanted Medications Collected During Eighth Prescription Drug Take-Back Day

Nearly 800,000 pounds of unneeded prescription medications were properly disposed of during the April 26, 2014, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, the largest amount of drugs collected since the first DEA Take-Back Day event in September 2010. DEA and its law enforcement partners set up more than 6,000 collection sites across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and United States territories, DEA reports. To date, 4.1 million pounds of prescription medications have been turned in to officials at these events, helping to prevent diversion, misuse, and abuse of the drugs. NABP’s AWAR_XE^® Prescription Drug Safety Program encourages consumer participation in DEA Take-Back Day events and provides information about the importance of safe drug disposal in helping to curb prescription drug abuse rates. Consumers who were unable to participate in the DEA Take-Back Day can check the Get Local section of the AWAR_XE website for state-specific listings of prescription medication drop box locations. Note that some community drop box programs are unable to accept controlled substance medications for disposal.