DEA encouraging residents to take part in National Take Back Day

AUSTIN, Texas - The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is holding the 22nd National Take Back Day on April 30, 2022. 

DEA's National Prescription Take Back Day encourages the public to remove any unneeded medications from their homes as an effort to prevent medication misuse and opioid addiction from ever starting. 

According to the CDC, there were an estimated 100,306 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. during a 12-month period ending in April 2021. That was a nearly 30% increase from the overdose deaths during the same period the year before.

The drug overdose epidemic is a clear and present public health, public safety, and national security threat, says the DEA. To do your part in further reducing drug-related violence, the DEA says to turn in unneeded medications this Take Back Day to remove them from potential harm. 

A collection site locator is available here. Safe disposal of medications is available so they do not end up in the wrong hands or harm the environment. All medication turn-ins are anonymous. 

The DEA typically holds National Take Back Day twice a year, once in April and once in October. 

In October 2021, 217 collection sites were set up in Texas, while nearly 5,000 sites were set up across the rest of the country. Texas alone turned in 55,749 pounds of unneeded medications. The total weight of collected medication in the U.S. was 744,082 pounds, which is 372 tons. 

In April 2021, the DEA collected over 400 tons of unneeded medication. 

For more information on National Take Back Day, or for drug resources, prevention and treatment, click here.