DEA Drug Take Back Day Success All Around, May 8

Nationwide Americans did their part to drop off a record number of unused, unwanted or expired prescription medications at close to 6,000 sites across the country on April 28th, 2018.  Together with a record-setting amount of local, state and federal partners, DEA collected and destroyed close to one million pounds—nearly 475 tons—of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs, making it the most successful event in DEA history. This brings the total amount of prescription drugs collected by DEA since the fall of 2010 to 9,964,714 pounds, or 4,982 tons. Residents of Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Alaska turned in 40,096 pounds (20 tons) of prescription medications on April 28, 2018.   This is the highest collection to date for the Pacific Northwest.  The following are the results broken down by state: •Washington –76 collection sites which resulted in 17,018 pounds (8.5 tons) removed from circulation.  •Idaho – 37 collection sites which resulted in 4,282 (2.0 tons) removed from circulation.  •Oregon – 60 collection sites which resulted in 14,614 pounds (7.3 tons) removed from circulation. This is a record collection number for Oregon. •Alaska – 17 collection sites which resulted in 4,182 pounds (2.1 tons) removed from circulation. This is a record collection for Alaska. DEA Special Agent in Charge Keith Weis said, “The take-back events continue to be highly successful and continue to rally the citizens of the Pacific Northwest into the fight against opioid abuse.” Now in its 8th year, National Prescription Drug Take Back Day events continue to remove ever-higher amounts of opioids and other medicines from the nation’s homes, where they could be stolen and abused by family members and visitors, including children and teens.