By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency says its national Prescription Drug Take Back Day in April, netted over 829,000 pounds of drugs nationwide, nearly 12,000 pounds in Kentucky alone.
“DEA’s biannual Take Back Day events are critical to helping reduce overdose deaths and alleviate addiction by safely disposing of prescription medications that sit idle in the home,” said DEA Acting Administrator D. Christopher Evans. “DEA is committed to providing a safe and secure method for the public to rid their homes of potentially dangerous drugs.”
“We’re especially pleased with the support we received from our partners and the public across Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia,” said Special Agent in Charge Todd Scott, head of DEA’s Louisville Division, which covers all three states. “At a time when overdose deaths are increasing sharply across America, folks are really embracing Drug Take Back Day, and our communities are safer as a result.”
Specifically, the April 24 event included 4,425 community partners at 5,060 collection sites throughout the country who collected 829,543 pounds, or 419.7 tons, of unused, expired, and unwanted medications. In Kentucky, there were 75 law enforcement agencies participating at 54 locations, who received 11,985 pounds of drugs.
The DEA, along with its law enforcement partners, has now collected 14,670,240 million pounds of medications since the inception of the National Prescription Drug Take Back Initiative in 2010. On Oct. 24, 2020, the public turned in a record 985,392 pounds, or almost 493 tons, of medication to DEA and 4,153 of its community partners at 4,587 collection sites nationwide, including 33 Bureau of Indian Affairs sites.
For those who could not make it to a Take Back location, the DEA says that every day is Take Back Day with more than 11,000 year-round authorized collection sites across the country. For more information, click here.
The DEA also encourages the public to reach out to their local law enforcement to find out if they have any permanent drug disposal locations throughout their local community.
