United States Drug Enforcement Administration

DALLAS - DEA and its law enforcement partners have now collected nearly 12 million pounds of unused or expired prescription medications over the course of 17 successful DEA National Prescription Drug Take Back events. During the 17th semiannual event on April 27, the Take Back initiative saw new records for the numbers of law enforcement partners, collection sites. Together with these local, state, tribal and federal partners – more than 5,000 total – at nearly 6,400 collection sites, DEA collected and destroyed close to 469 tons of potentially dangerous unwanted drugs.

 Included in the record breaking numbers is the Dallas Field Division, which covers North Texas and the state of Oklahoma, by collecting over 46,729 pounds.  This brings the total amount of drugs collected by DEA since the fall of 2010 to 11,816,393 pounds, or 5,908 tons.

“Thank you to everyone who participated in this successful event”, said Special Agent in Charge Clyde E. Shelley, Jr. “Throughout the areas that the DEA Dallas Field Division, we collected a staggering amount of prescription drug from homes where it is no longer needed.  By doing this two times a year, our law enforcement partners are able to collect and permanently dispose of them in a safe manner. It is a peace of mind for many people that these kinds of medications will not potentially cause harm to others. Please take note, that our next National Take Back Initiative is October 26, 2019. We will see everyone in October.”

“The ever-increasing public support and continuously growing numbers of partners and collection sites are a true testament to the value of DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back program,” said Acting Administrator Uttam Dhillon. “Just as DEA and our law enforcement partners are committed to ending the opioid epidemic, our communities recognize that this is a pervasive and heartbreaking crisis.  DEA Take Back Day gives every American a way to help by simply cleaning out their medicine cabinets.”

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day events have been extremely successful not only in getting unused drugs out of the house, but also in raising awareness of their link to addiction and overdose deaths. The public has embraced the opportunity these events provide to remove medicines languishing in the home that are highly susceptible to misuse, abuse and theft. Public demand for safe and secure drug disposal has also resulted in a significant increase in year-round drug drop boxes at law enforcement facilities, pharmacies, and elsewhere, making drug disposal even more convenient.

Complete results for DEA’s spring Take Back Day are available at www.DEATakeBack.com. Video of DEA’s Take Back Day collections being weighed and destroyed is available at https://youtu.be/5y_LCuJvWRs.

DEA’s next National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is October 26, 2019.