United States Drug Enforcement Administration

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – On April 30, 2022, communities across the country demonstrated their support for DEA’s annual National Prescription Drug Take Back Day by dropping off more than 720,000 pounds of unneeded medications at 5,144 collection sites. Since 2010, DEA, along with its law enforcement partners, has collected nearly 16 million pounds of unneeded prescription medications.

Across the Louisville Division, which covers Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia, over 28,000 pounds of medications were collected at sites located across the three-state region.  Tennessee collected the most, with 12,384.55 pounds; followed by Kentucky, with 10,307 pounds; and West Virginia with 5,914.6 pounds.

“National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is an important part of DEA’s efforts to fight the overdose epidemic and save lives,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. “I encourage everyone across the country to dispose of unneeded medications throughout the year to help keep our communities safe and healthy.”

“I want to thank everyone across the Louisville Division who supported DEA’s prescription drug take back effort by safely disposing of their expired and unneeded medications,” said Louisville Division Special Agent in Charge Todd Scott.  “At a time when American drug overdose deaths are at record numbers, anything we do to make our communities safer can make a difference.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that in the United States, over 107,000 people died as the result of a drug overdose last year. This figure means that someone in the United States is dying of a drug overdose every 5 minutes.

Take Back Day events provide easy, no-cost opportunities to dispose of medicines stored in the home that are susceptible to abuse and theft. There are many permanent drug-drop boxes located in communities across the country. A list of permanent locations can be found here.