TOM LATEK

Kentucky Today

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says communities across the country continued support for DEA’s biannual National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, by safely disposing of more than 647,000 pounds of unneeded medications at nearly 5,000 collection sites across the country.

DEA reports on successful Take Back Day

In the Louisville Division, which covers Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia, over 34,000 pounds of medications were collected at sites located across the three-state region, during the one-day event held on Oct. 29. Tennessee collected the most, with 18,492 pounds; followed by Kentucky, with 11,348 pounds; and West Virginia with 4,561 pounds.

“We collected a lot more across the division then we did this past spring and that’s important at time when Americans are dying from drug poisonings in record numbers,” said Louisville Division Special Agent in Charge Todd Scott. “I want to thank everyone throughout Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia who supported DEA’s prescription drug take back effort by safely disposing of their expired and unneeded medications and keeping them off the streets.”

Since its inception in 2010, DEA’s National Prescription Take Back Day has removed almost 17 million pounds of unneeded medications from communities across the country.

“The Take Back campaign is part of DEA’s continued efforts to protect our communities and create healthier environments by offering the safe disposal of medications,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. “We appreciate the community support we see during these events and encourage everyone to remove unneeded medications from their home.”

DEA continues to expand opportunities to make safe disposal of medications more accessible nationwide. The agency announced Monday it has registered a record number of authorized collectors, pharmacies and medical facilities, to collect unused and unwanted prescription drugs year-round. Since April 2017, DEA increased the number of authorized collectors from more than 2,200 to 15,000.

A list of permanent drug-drop boxes located in communities across the country can be found here.