United States Drug Enforcement Administration

WASHINGTON – On October 29, 2022, communities across the country demonstrated their continued support for DEA’s bi-annual National Prescription Drug Take Back Day by safely disposing of more than 647,000 pounds of unneeded medications at nearly 5,000 collection sites across the country.

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.”

A specific breakdown of amounts collected by regions across Pennsylvania, where a total of 26,215 pounds was collected, and Delaware, where a total of 4,200 pounds was collected, is listed below:

                                                Allentown, PA:           1,025 lbs.

                                                Dover, DE:                  1,920 lbs.

                                                Harrisburg, PA:           2,534 lbs.

                                                Philadelphia, PA:        16,085 lbs.

                                                Pittsburgh, PA:           6,035 lbs.

                                                Scranton, PA:              535 lbs.

                                               Wilmington, DE:        2,280 lbs.                                                

Amounts collected by the counties across the Philadelphia region, which are totaled above, are listed as follows: 

                                                Bucks County:            8,779 lbs.

                                                Chester County:          533 lbs.

                                                Delaware County:       112 lbs.

                                                Montgomery County: 4,989 lbs.

                                                Philadelphia County:  1,673 lbs.

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. A list of permanent drug-drop boxes located in communities across the country can be found here.

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.

Complete results for DEA’s fall National Prescription Drug Take Back Day are available at www.DEATakeBack.com.

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