Californians dropped off 37 tons of unwanted medications during the thirteenth National Prescription Take Back Day on April 29 – netting the largest haul out of any state in the country.
California also boasted the most drop-off locations and the third highest number of law enforcement partners when compared to all 50 states. During the collection, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) worked with 204 law enforcement agencies in California at 346 different locations.
The DEA says its partners throughout the country collected more unused prescription drugs than at any of the 12 previous Drug Take Back Day events. Nationally, the event brought in 450 tons of medications at close to 5,500 sites. A total of 4,052 tons of prescription drugs have been collected and safely disposed of since the first Drug Take Back event in 2010.
According to the DEA, the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day Initiative addresses a crucial public safety and public health issue. According to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 6.4 million Americans abused controlled prescription drugs. That study showed that a majority of abused prescription drugs were obtained from family and friends, often from the home medicine cabinet. The DEA’s Take Back Day events provide an opportunity for Americans to prevent drug addiction and overdose deaths.
The DEA’s next National Prescription Take Back Day is Saturday, October 28, 2017.
For more information, go HERE to the DEA website.
