National News (November 17, 2022) – The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) held its latest National Prescription Take Back Day on October 29, 2022, and communities across the country demonstrated their continued support for the DEA’s bi-annual event.
Participants disposed of more than 647,000 pounds of unneeded medications at nearly 5,000 collection sites across the country making this event a huge success.
Since its inception in 2010, DEA’s National Prescription Take Back Day has removed almost 17 million pounds of unneeded medications from communities across the country.
“The Take Back campaign is part of DEA’s continued efforts to protect our communities and create healthier environments by offering the safe disposal of medications,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. “We appreciate the community support we see during these events and encourage everyone to remove unneeded medications from their home.”
The DEA is announcing the following results:
- Total Law Enforcement Participation: 4,340
- Total Collection Sites: 4,902
- Total Weight Collected: 647,163 lbs. (324 Tons)
- Total Weight All Time: 16,636,729 lbs. (8,318 Tons)
Breakdown of Collections by State/Territory
DEA continues to expand opportunities to make safe disposal of medications more accessible nationwide. DEA is pleased to announce it has registered a record number of authorized collectors – pharmacies and medical facilities – to collect unused and unwanted prescription drugs year-round. Since April 2017, DEA increased the number of authorized collectors from more than 2,200 to 15,000.
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.
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