United States Drug Enforcement Administration

DETROIT - The State of Michigan showed their support and dedication in fighting the prescription pill epidemic from the Fall 2010 through September 2014 by disposing of over 79,000 pounds of unwanted and unused prescription drugs in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’(DEA) National Prescription Drug Take-Back Initiative.   In a press conference today, DEA Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg announced that the 10th National Prescription Drug Take-Back will take place September 26th from 10 am-2 pm local time.  As with the previous nine Take-Back events, sites will be set up throughout communities nationwide so local residents can return their unwanted, unneeded, or expired prescription drugs for safe disposal.

In the state of Michigan, during the past nine collections, the DEA has partnered with at least 116 state and local law enforcement partners, to host between 171 and 223 take back locations statewide.  The DEA is in the process of reaching out to all law enforcement agencies throughout the state of Michigan in an effort to gain more participants and collection sites and hope that this Prescription Take Back will be one of the most successful collections to date.

Statistics show that the rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings from these drugs.  We also know that most heroin users start as prescription drug abusers, the causal and correlative connections are extremely strong.  Furthermore, 120 Americans die each day from a drug overdose which prescription painkillers and heroin account for nearly half that number.  Annualized, that’s 43,000 Americans dying each year from drug-related deaths - more than from firearms or in car accidents.

The DEA Take-Back program worked, and worked well.  It served two primary purposes, to educate folks about the dangers of prescription drug abuse and to give them a safe and simple way to clean out their medicine cabinets.  That act - cleaning out that cabinet - can prevent a loved one from getting their hands on these powerful narcotics and can keep them from dying.

Collection sites in every local community can be found by going to www.dea.gov . This site will be continuously updated with new take-back locations.