April 30th is National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, and you can easily and safety dispose of unwanted prescriptions or other medications in your local area for free.
From 10:00 am until 2:00 pm that Saturday, drop off locations will be hosted across the nation at police departments, sheriff substations, universities, hospitals and pharmacies.
Last year, 839,543 lbs. (420 Tons) of medications were properly disposed of after being dropped at over 5,000 collection sites. The goal is to avoid potential abuse of unused drugs left in the home, and also to avoid contamination of our water ways by flushing potent drugs down the toilet.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), drug overdoses have dramatically increased over the last two decades, with overdose deaths increasing more than 500% between 1999 and 2020.
Overdoses are the leading cause of injury-related death in the United States with recent increases influenced by multiple factors including the COVID-19 pandemic.
While many of the overdoses are linked to illicit drugs, such as synthetic opioids or fentanyl, young people’s first experience with abuse-prone medications are often those obtained by friends or family members from bottles in home cabinets.
To search by your zip code and find out where you can take your older, expired or unused medications on April 30th, click here.
