DEA and New Jersey law enforcement partners collect more than 18,000 pounds of unwanted prescriptions during 19th National Prescription Take Back Day
Newark, N.J. – Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey Division, Susan A. Gibson, announced that New Jersey residents surrendered 18,091 pounds or 9 tons of expired, unused, and unwanted prescription medications during DEA’s 19th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.
On Saturday, October 24, 2020, DEA and 212 police departments collected the medications at 226 collection sites across New Jersey. Nationally, the public turned in nearly a million pounds, the largest amount ever collected in the program’s history. Since the program’s inception in 2010, DEA, along with its law enforcement partners have now collected more than 295,000 pounds or 147 tons in New Jersey, and nearly 13.7 million pounds collected across the country.
“The Take Back initiative provides the public with a way to safely dispose of their unwanted prescription drugs,” said Special Agent in Charge Gibson. “We thank the public for their effort to keep these medications out of the wrong hands, especially our youth. I would like to thank our law enforcement partners and the New Jersey National Guard who continue to support this very important program.”
In addition to DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, safe and secure drug disposal continues to be available at any of the 11,000 DEA authorized collectors throughout the year. For more information, visit: https://apps2.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/pubdispsearch/spring/main?execution=e1s1.
Given the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency, DEA wants to ensure that the public is aware of other ways they can dispose of unwanted prescription drugs without having to leave their homes. Both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency have tips on how to safely dispose of drugs at home.
DEA also encourages the public to reach out to their local law enforcement to find out if they have any permanent drug disposal locations throughout their local community.
Complete results for DEA’s 2020 October Take Back Day are available at www.deatakeback.com.
Photos and video from Take Back Day are available at https://www.flickr.com/gp/190205961@N07/hbL64G.
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