Southern Illinois Sends Back 3 Tons of Unused Prescription Drugs

Residents of the Southern District of Illinois returned over three tons of prescription drugs for destruction on National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, Steven D. Weinhoeft, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today.

DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day was held on Saturday, April 27, 2019. Now in its ninth year, the biannual nationwide event provides a safe and convenient way for individuals to dispose of unwanted, unused, or expired prescription medications. According to the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, millions of Americans misuse prescription drugs each year. A majority of those drugs are obtained from family and friends, often from the home medicine cabinet.

The public response so far this year has been tremendous. 6,636 pounds of prescription drugs were collected in the Southern District of Illinois alone. In Madison County, 897 pounds of drugs were turned in – a total nearly matched in St. Clair County, where 892 pounds were returned. Nationwide, the haul reached 937,443 pounds (468.72 tons) of prescription drugs amassed at more than 6,000 collection sites. Nearly 5,000 law enforcement agencies participated in the event.

The 18th National Take Back Day will be held on October 26, 2019.

Members of the public can find more information on the DEA National Take Back Day and a list of permanent drug return locations at https://takebackday.dea.gov. For local addiction recovery and prevention information, please visit https://partnershipdrugfree.org.