National Take Back Day is October 27th
This October 27th, from 10am to 2pm, the Drug Enforcement Administration will be hosting its 6th National Take Back Day.
The purpose of Take Back Day is to help combat drug addiction and overdose deaths.
In 2015, a national survey on drug use and health showed that 6.4 million Americans abused controlled prescription drugs. The majority of those drugs were prescribed to friends and family and were often accessible in a home medicine cabinet.
Take Back Day offers an opportunity for citizens to dispose of any unwanted, unused or expired prescription medications, reducing the chances of those medications being abused by someone they were not prescribed to.
Drop-off locations can be found around the state. To find the drop-off site nearest to you, check out the Take Back Day website.
If there’s no site close to you or you can’t drop off during that time, there are alternatives to safely disposing of your medications. Check out community disposal programs in your area, or safely dispose of medication at home using the following steps:
- Pour medication into a sealable plastic bag. Dissolve solid medications, such as pills, liquid capsules, etc. by adding water.
- Once dissolved, add kitty litter, sawdust, coffee grounds or another mixing material to the plastic bag. This will make sure that the solution is less appealing to pets, children and others.
- Seal the plastic bag to make sure it doesn’t leak, then put it in the trash.
- Remove and destroy all identifying personal information (for example, the prescription label) from the medication containers before recycling them or throwing them away.
Drug misuse is a public safety issue. Take your unused, unwanted, or expired prescriptions to a drop-off location near you this October or safely dispose of them at home.
