DEA Prepares for Prescription Drug Takeback Day

     PHOENIX – Acting U.S. Attorney Elizabeth A. Strange will join the DEA on Oct. 28, 2017, for its 14th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.  The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at thousands of collection sites around the country, including over 70 in Arizona.  The event is an effort to rid homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. The links provided below contain information about local location sites.

     “We are proud to support this great endeavor in partnership with the Drug Enforcement Administration,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Elizabeth A. Strange.  “The collection sites throughout Arizona will not only encourage drug disposal and support our smaller communities, but we hope this event will enhance an awareness of the opioid crisis and other prescription-drug problems affecting all of our communities.”

     “Every Arizonan can prevent the potential onset of addiction from within their own homes and impact the supply of excess prescription drugs diverted to the illicit drug market by participating in DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back,” said DEA Phoenix Special Agent in Charge Doug Coleman. “The DEA will continue to work with communities to curb the opioid epidemic and target the cartels profiting from the weakness of others, but we must begin with reducing the supply of excess prescription drugs.”  

     During the last Take Back event, Americans turned in 900,000 pounds of prescription drugs at almost 5,500 sites operated by the DEA and more than 4,200 of its state and local law enforcement partners.  Overall, during the 13 previous Take Back events, the DEA and its partners have taken in over 8.1 million pounds—more than 4,050 tons—of pills.  In Arizona alone, over 121,143 pounds, or approximately 60 tons have been collected.

     The disposal service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.  (The collection points cannot accept liquids, needles, or sharp objects, only pills or patches.)

     Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses.  Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 91 Americans die each day from an opioid overdose.  Some painkiller abusers move on to heroin: Four out of five new heroin users started with painkillers.  Flushing medications down the toilet or throwing them in the trash pose potential safety and health hazards.  This initiative addresses the public safety and public health issues that surround medications languishing in home cabinets, becoming highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse.

     For more information or to locate a collection site near you, go to the DEA Prescription Drug Take Back Day web site at https://takebackday.dea.gov/#collection-locator or the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona web page, http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/ where you can search by zip code, city, or state.

RELEASE NUMBER:    2017-104_DEA_TakeBack

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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/

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