Skip to main content
search

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day – April 30, 2022

The Columbia Police Department (CPD) in partnership with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will host the 22nd National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, April 30 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This bi-annual event offers free, anonymous disposal of unneeded medications at more than 4,000 local drop-off locations nationwide.

Nationwide, drug overdose deaths are up 16 percent in the last year, claiming more than 290 lives every day.  According to a report published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a majority of people who misused a prescription medication obtained the medicine from a family member or friend. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that in the United States, more than 106,000 people died as the result of a drug overdose in the 12-month period ending November 2021, marking the most drug-related deaths ever recorded, with opioid-related deaths accounting for 75 percent of all overdose deaths.

For more than a decade, DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day has helped Americans easily rid their homes of unneeded medications—those that are old, unwanted, or no longer needed—that too often become a gateway to addiction. Working in close partnership with local law enforcement, Take Back Day has removed more than 15 million pounds of medication from circulation since its inception. These efforts are directly in line with DEA’s priority to combat the overdose epidemic in the United States.

On Saturday, April 30, 2022, DEA and its law enforcement partners will collect tablets, capsules, patches, and other solid forms of prescription drugs. Liquids (including intravenous solutions), syringes and other sharps, and illicit drugs will not be accepted. DEA will accept vaping devices and cartridges provided lithium batteries are removed.

You can drop off your Rx medications at CPD Headquarters located at #1 Justice Square. A Drug Take Back locked receptacle is available 24-hours a day, all year-long.

 

Close Menu