Community can take back prescription medicines throughout the year 2-18-26

February 18, 2026

Community can take back prescription medicines throughout the year

MOBILE, Ala. — The Mobile County Health Department (MCHD) has supported the National Drug Take Back Day events that have happened across Mobile County for many years. The number of opioid overdose deaths and overdose visits to emergency rooms is increasing, and to combat this issue, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) organizes the National Prescription Drug Take Back Days during April and October.

If you missed the DEA’s bi-annual events, you can still take advantage of year-round drop-off locations. According to the DEA website, public controlled substance disposal locations in our area can be found at https://tinyurl.com/47vj32k2.

You can drop off your old, unneeded, or unused medications at one of the 16,500 pharmacies, hospitals, and businesses across the United States. In addition, many police departments provide year-round drop boxes.

It is important to clean out medicine cabinets and help prevent drug misuse before it starts. More than 100,000 Americans die every year to a drug poisoning or overdose death according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Safe disposal is one simple step we can all take to keep our families and community healthy,” said Dr. Kevin Michaels, Health Officer of Mobile County. “Every day can be Take Back Day when we make medication safety a habit.

“DEA’s biannual National Prescription Drug Take Back Days remove expired medications from American communities. Since the inception of the program, DEA and its partners have removed closer to 20.4 million pounds of unneeded prescription medication from homes across the country.”

If you want to know more about the MCHD’s Overdose Prevention program, please call 251-410-6322. Overdose Prevention focuses on the complex and changing nature of the drug overdose epidemic. It highlights the need for an interdisciplinary, comprehensive, and cohesive public health approach.

The Overdose Prevention program has worked with LTS Test and Go on a project to supply healthcare kiosks across the community to offer free naloxone kits and condoms, enhancing community health. The kiosks are located at B-Bob’s Bar (213 Conti Street in Mobile), Vista Medical (1359 Spring Hill Avenue in Mobile), Shell Health (4321 Downtowner Loop North in Mobile), Semmes Pharmacy (8985 Moffett Road in Semmes) and at MCHD’s Women, Infants & Children (WIC) office at 19255 North Main Street in Citronelle.