MCHD supports Take Back Day for prescription drugs

April 25, 2022

MCHD supports Take Back Day for prescription drugs

MOBILE, Ala. — With opioid overdose deaths increasing during the pandemic, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced its next National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is scheduled for Saturday, April 30. At its last Take Back Day in October, the DEA collected a large amount of expired, unwanted, and unused prescription medications, with the public turning in close to 372 tons of unwanted drugs.

The DEA has brought in more than 7,500 tons of prescription drugs. With studies indicating a majority of abused prescription drugs come from family and friends, including from home medicine cabinets, clearing out unused medicine is essential.

Provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics indicate that there were an estimated 100,306 drug overdose deaths in the United States during a 12-month period ending in April 2021, an increase of 28.5 percent from the 78,056 deaths during the same period the year before. The CDC said opioids accounted for the highest number of overdose deaths, followed by synthetic opioids, excluding methadone.

The public can drop off potentially dangerous prescription medications at collection sites that will adhere to local COVID-19 guidelines and regulations in order to maintain the safety of all participants and local law enforcement.

According to the DEA, the Mobile Police Department will provide a drop-off location at its headquarters (2460 Government Street in Mobile). The Mobile County Sheriff’s Department will have drop-off locations at Costco (1450 Tingle Circle East in Mobile), Walgreens #15151 (5707 Cottage Hill Road in Mobile), Walgreens #6085 (5530 Three North Road in Mobile), CVS #4888 (4453 Old Shell Road in Mobile) and CVS #7671 (1401 Hillcrest Road in Mobile). Medications can be dropped off between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

DEA and its partners will collect tablets, capsules, patches, and other solid forms of prescription drugs. Liquids (including intravenous solutions), syringes and other sharps, and illegal drugs will not be accepted. DEA will continue to accept vaping devices and cartridges at its drop-off locations, provided lithium batteries are removed. You can learn more about the event by visiting https://www.dea.gov/takebackday.

To learn more about the Mobile County Health Department’s Overdose Data to Action (OD2A) program, call 251-410-OD2A (6322). OD2A 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.