DEA and its Partners Remove More than 670,000 Pounds of Unused Medications from Communities Nationwide
More than 18,000 Pounds Collected in the Pacific Northwest
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day with the Renton Police Department
SEATTLE– DEA and its local law enforcement partners collected 670,136 pounds of unused medications during the 26th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on April 27, 2024.
The DEA Seattle Field Division, which includes Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and Idaho, collected 18,214 pounds of unneeded prescription medication with the help of 133 partners at 154 collections sites.
Washington: 7,834 lbs
Oregon: 1,632 lb
Idaho: 6,000 lbs
Alaska: 2,748 lbs
Seattle Field Division Total: 18,214 lbs
In its 15th year of the program, DEA partnered with more than 4,600 law enforcement partners at close to 5,000 sites nationwide. Since the program’s inception in 2010, National Prescription Take Back Day has removed more than 18.6 million pounds of unneeded medications from communities across the country.
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.
DEA continues to expand opportunities to make safe disposal of medications more accessible nationwide. Beyond DEA’s Take Back Day, the community can regularly and safely dispose of unneeded medications at close to 17,000 pharmacies, hospitals, and businesses, working to help clean out medicine cabinets throughout the year. Those locations can be found here. In addition, many police departments provide year-round drop boxes.
Complete results for DEA’s spring National Prescription Drug Take Back Day are available at Take Back Day (dea.gov).
###
