United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SEATTLE– The Drug Enforcement Administration will host its 22nd National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, April 30 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This bi-annual event offers free, anonymous disposal of unneeded medications at more than 4,000 local drop-off locations nationwide.

“Disposing of unneeded medications can help prevent drugs from being misused,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. “Overdose deaths continue to hit tragic record highs. I encourage everyone to dispose of unneeded prescription medications now.”

At the last Take Back event in October 2021, the Drug Enforcement Administration Seattle Field Division, which covers Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska, had 147 collection sites. Those sites collected 22,618 pounds of unneeded prescription drugs. In addition, there were four collection sites with our tribal partners (three in Washington, and one in Oregon) collecting 171 pounds of prescription drugs.

On April 30th, 2022 there will be 151 sites in the Seattle Field Division where the public can dispose of unneeded prescription drugs.

“The DEA Seattle Field Division is committed to making our communities safer and healthier by driving down overdoses and overdose deaths through targeted enforcement and community-based initiatives like our 22nd National Prescription Drug Take Back Day,” said Frank A. Tarentino III, Special Agent in Charge DEA Seattle Field Division.  For over a decade, National Take Back Day has encouraged the public to remove unneeded medications from their homes as a first step in preventing medication misuse and opioid addiction from ever starting.  Opioid misuse and abuse, which are fueling the drug overdose epidemic are a clear and present public health, public safety, and national security threat in the United States.”

Drug overdose deaths are up 16 percent in the last year, claiming more than 290 lives every day.  According to a report published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a majority of people who misused a prescription medication obtained the medicine from a family member or friend.

“With the help from the community, can remove the unwanted prescription pills found in homes to prevent harm.  This collaborative effort is an example of the DEA’s commitment and resolve in the fight to decrease the significant surge in overdoses,” said Frank A. Tarentino, Special Agent in Charge, Seattle Field Division.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that in the United States, more than 106,000 people died as the result of a drug overdose in the 12-month period ending November 2021, marking the most drug-related deaths ever recorded, with opioid-related deaths accounting for 75 percent of all overdose deaths.

For more than a decade, DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day has helped Americans easily rid their homes of unneeded medications—those that are old, unwanted, or no longer needed—that too often become a gateway to addiction. Working in close partnership with local law enforcement, Take Back Day has removed more than 15 million pounds of medication from circulation since its inception. These efforts are directly in line with DEA’s priority to combat the overdose epidemic in the United States.

On Saturday, April 30, 2022, DEA and its law enforcement partners will collect tablets, capsules, patches, and other solid forms of prescription drugs. Liquids (including intravenous solutions), syringes and other sharps, and illicit drugs will not be accepted. DEA will accept vaping devices and cartridges provided lithium batteries are removed.

A location finder and partner toolbox are available at www.DEATakeBack.com for easy reference to April 30 collection sites.

Year-round receptacles are available at more than 13,000 pharmacies, hospitals, police departments, and business. Additionally, with the passage of the DUMP Opioids Act in 2021, the public may now use drop boxes at Veterans Administration medical centers to dispose of controlled substance prescription medications. Check with your local VA health facility for more information.  With more than 13,000 year-round drop-off locations in the United States, every day can be Take Back day.

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