You probably don’t need to hold onto the Percocet leftover from the surgery you had five years ago. But what on Earth should you do with it?
Clean out those medicine cabinets, because the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will take expired and unwanted prescriptions and over-the-counter medications off your hands during National Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, April 24.
An annual event, Take Back Day collects unused medications, no questions asked. Find drop-off locations throughout Greater Cincinnati by using the search tool at takebackday.dea.gov.
The DEA attributes a rise in prescription drug abuse with the availability of unused drugs in the home. The Take Back Day website declares:
According to the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 9.7 million people misused prescription pain relievers, 4.9 million people misused prescription stimulants, and 5.9 million people misused prescription tranquilizers or sedatives in 2019. The survey also showed that a majority of misused prescription drugs were obtained from family and friends, often from the home medicine cabinet.
In 2020, Take Back Day collected more than 985,000 pounds of prescriptions and other items, including more than 59,000 pounds in Ohio alone.
Learn more at takebackday.dea.gov.
This article appears in Apr 1-30, 2021.