Communities Across the Country Remove Nearly 664,000 Pounds of Unneeded Prescription Medications to Prevent Drug Misuse
NEWARK, N.J. – On April 22, 2023, DEA and its law enforcement partners came together once again to protect our communities from prescription misuse by safely disposing of 663,725 pounds of unneeded medications at nearly 5,000 collection sites across the country.
Since its inception in 2010, DEA’s bi-annual National Prescription Take Back Day has removed more than 17 million pounds of unnecessary medications from communities across the country.
DEA’s New Jersey Division and law enforcement partners collected more than 15,000 pounds of unwanted, unused, and expired medications. Since the inception of the program, New Jersey residents have surrendered more than 372,000 pounds or 186 tons of these medications.
For more than a decade, Take Back Day has helped Americans easily rid their homes of unneeded medications—those that are old, unwanted, or expired. These medications can be a gateway to addiction, and have helped fuel the opioid epidemic.
“Communities across the country again answered the call to rid their homes of unneeded medications to protect loved ones from deadly drugs and drug poisonings,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. “National Prescription Drug Take Back Day continues to protect our communities and create healthier environments by offering safe disposal of prescription medications.”
“The DEA New Jersey Division always appreciates the participation of New Jersey residents in cleaning out their medicine cabinets and removing the temptation for people in the house to experiment with these medications,” said DEA New Jersey Acting Special Agent in Charge Daniel J. Kafafian. “I also want to thank the more than 240 state, county, and local police departments that assisted in this endeavor. Every pill removed from the home is an opportunity to prevent possible misuse of these prescriptions.”
DEA continues to expand opportunities to make safe disposal of medications more accessible nationwide. A list of permanent drug-drop boxes located in communities across the country can be found here.
Safe medication disposal receptacles along with DEA Take Back events provide families easy, no-cost opportunities to get rid of unnecessary medicines stored in the home that can be susceptible to abuse and theft.
Complete results for DEA’s spring National Prescription Drug Take Back Day are available at Take Back Day (dea.gov).
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