DEA to Hold Prescription Drug Take-Back Day in Ohio

The United States Drug Enforcement Administration will hold a prescription drug take-back day on Saturday, April 30.

The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 4,000 locations across the country, including multiple locations in northeast Ohio, to anonymously dispose of unnecessary drugs, according to a DEA press release.

“Medication take back day is an opportunity to bring in those unused, expired and unused medications – get them out of your home,” said DEA spokesman Brian McNeal. “Research has shown that many addictions start in the home medicine cabinet, and this is an opportunity to remove that supply link from the chain, and we can stop the abuse before it happens. actually begins.”

The agency has held these takeover events twice a year for 11 years, McNeal said. At last October’s event, officials collected more than 22,000 pounds of medicine in Cleveland alone, he added.

“Eliminating unnecessary drugs can help prevent drug abuse,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. “Overdose deaths continue to hit tragic records. I encourage everyone to get rid of unnecessary prescription drugs now.

According to the DEA, drug overdose deaths in the United States increased by 16% last year. This means that across the country more than 290 people have died every day.

The majority of people who abuse a prescription drug got it from a family member or friend, according to the DEA.

“It’s also a good idea to think about how you store these drugs,” McNeal said. “When does someone have privacy in your home? It’s when they’re in your bathroom.

This is often where we store the drugs, he pointed out.

“Who knows who goes into our bathrooms – what problems they face?” he said. “It could be a friend, a child or a friend of a child, or even an entrepreneur. Someone who works in your home might walk into your medicine cabinet, take all those pills, and who knows where they go next.

There are also drop receptacles available year-round at more than 13,000 pharmacies, hospitals, police departments and businesses, the DEA said. The public can also use drop boxes at Veterans Administration medical centers to dispose of prescription drugs containing controlled substances, according to the release.

You can find drop-off locations for April 30 prescription drug pick-up day as well as those available year-round at DEA.gov/takeback.