Communities Across the Country Remove Nearly 664,000 Pounds of Unneeded Prescription Medications to Prevent Drug Misuse
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – On April 22, 2023, DEA and its law enforcement partners came together once again to protect our communities from prescription misuse by safely disposing of 663,725 pounds of unneeded medications at nearly 5,000 collection sites across the country.
Since its inception in 2010, DEA’s bi-annual National Prescription Take Back Day has removed more than 17 million pounds of unnecessary medications from communities across the country.
Across the Louisville Field Division, which covers Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia, 22,510 pounds of unused, expired and unnecessary medications were collected. Kentucky collected the most in the division, with 8,687 pounds; followed by Tennessee, with 8,211 pounds; and West Virginia, with 5,612 pounds.
For more than a decade, Take Back Day has helped Americans easily rid their homes of unneeded medications—those that are old, unwanted, or expired. These medications can be a gateway to addiction, and have helped fuel the opioid epidemic.
“Communities across the country again answered the call to rid their homes of unneeded medications to protect loved ones from deadly drugs and drug poisonings,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. “National Prescription Drug Take Back Day continues to protect our communities and create healthier environments by offering safe disposal of prescription medications.”
“I want to thank everyone throughout Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia who took the time to clean out their medicine cabinets and support National Prescription Drug Take Back Day,” said Louisville Special Agent in Charge J. Todd Scott. “Your participation is vital to keeping prescription drugs out of the wrong hands and our communities are safer and healthier due to your efforts.”
DEA continues to expand opportunities to make safe disposal of medications more accessible nationwide. 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 spring National Prescription Drug Take Back Day are available at Take Back Day (dea.gov).
