United States Drug Enforcement Administration

CHICAGO – DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day collected 829,543 pounds (419.7 tons) of unused, expired, and unwanted medications across the country.  The Chicago Division collected 104,879 pounds of that grand total.  Americans once again showed their dedication toward helping prevent addiction and potential overdose by removing prescription pills from their homes.  Our April event included 4,425 community partners at 5,060 collection sites throughout the country.

“DEA’s biannual Take Back Day events are critical to helping reduce overdose deaths and alleviate addiction by safely disposing of prescription medications that sit idle in the home,” said DEA Acting Administrator D. Christopher Evans. “DEA is committed to providing a safe and secure method for the public to rid their homes of potentially dangerous drugs.”

“The DEA Chicago Division would like to thank our local, state and federal community partners, and the public for an extremely successful 20th Take Back Day,” said DEA Chicago Division Special Agent in Charge Robert J. Bell.  “The Chicago Division is pleased to report that ‘we’ collected 104,879 pounds, or 12.5% of the entire national total of 829,543 pounds.”

DEA, along with its law enforcement partners, has now collected 14,524,391 pounds of medications since the inception of the National Prescription Drug Take Back Initiative in 2010. On Oct. 24, 2020, the public turned in a record 985,392 pounds – almost 493 tons – of medication to DEA and 4,153 of its community partners at 4,587 collection sites nationwide, including 33 Bureau of Indian Affairs sites.

For those who could not make it to a Take Back location, DEA reminds the community that every day is Take Back Day with more than 11,000 year-round authorized collection sites across the country. For more information, visit the DEA Diversion website.

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 April 2021 Take Back Day are available at www.deatakeback.com.

Photos and video from Take Back Day are available on Flickr.