Prescription Take-Back Events

Prescription Drug Take-Back Events aim to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications.

This 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 most abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.

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 for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—posed potential safety and health hazards.

Helping people dispose of potentially harmful prescription drugs is just one way DEA works to reduce the addiction and overdose deaths plaguing this country due to opioid medications.  For more information on how to properly dispose of unused medications, please click on the link below.

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