10/22/21 - National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is Saturday

Saturday (Oct. 23), many area police and fire departments will collect unused prescription drugs.

According to a report published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a majority of people who misused a prescription medication obtained the medicine from a family member or friend.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that last year, more than 93,000 people died of drug overdoses in the United States, marking the largest number of drug related deaths ever recorded in a year.

Opioid-related deaths accounted for 75 percent of all overdose deaths in 2020.

For more than a decade, DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day has helped Americans easily rid their homes of unneeded medications—those that are old, unwanted, or no longer needed— that too often become a gateway to addiction.

Working in close partnership with local law enforcement, Take Back Day has removed more than 7,000 tons of medication from circulation since its inception.

These efforts are directly in line with DEA’s priority to combat the rise of overdoses plaguing the United States.

At the last DEA Take Back Day, the Detroit Field Division, servicing Michigan and Ohio, collected more than 70,000 pounds of unused, unwanted or expired prescription drugs. Date: Oct. 19, 2021 Contact: Brian McNeal Number: (313) 588-1625 The National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is scheduled for Oct. 23, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. At its last Take Back Day in April, DEA Detroit Division collected more than 70,000 pounds of expired, unused prescription medications.

For more information on National Prescription Drug Take Back Day and the closest drop-off location for you, go to: https://takebackday.dea.gov/