Community members across the five state Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Omaha Division safely disposed of 18,614 pounds of unwanted and unused medications at the 26th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day event held April 27. Nationally, DEA and its law enforcement partners collected 670,136 pounds of medications at close to 5,000 sites.
“We know how busy weekends can be and we’re grateful for everyone who took time to clean out medicine cabinets and drop off unneeded medications at one of our Take Back Day locations,” DEA Omaha Division Special Agent in Charge Steven T. Bell said. “It’s important to realize that this one small act can make a big impact on the well-being of our communities.”
Earlier this year, DEA launched a new campaign encouraging the public to “Make Every Day Take Back Day,” by utilizing year-round collection sites to dispose of unneeded medications. The DEA has registered nearly 17,000 pharmacies, hospitals and businesses nationwide to help provide a safe place for community members to regularly and safely dispose of unwanted medications. A list of these locations can be found here. Additionally, many police departments provide year-round drop boxes.
According to a report published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a majority of people who use prescription medication for a nonmedical purpose obtained that medication from a family member or friend.
Since the program’s inception in 2010, National Prescription Drug Take Back Day has removed more than 18.6 million pounds of unneeded medications from communities across the country. Complete results for DEA’s spring National Prescription Drug Take Back Day are available at Take Back Day (dea.gov).