News : National Prescription Take Back Day, Saturday October 27

This year National Prescription Take Back Day is on Saturday, October 27th, 2018 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. This day is announced by the NABP (National Association of Boards of Pharmacy) and the DEA on a national scale to prevent unused prescription drugs from finding their way into the wrong hands. In order to prevent substance use disorders and overdose deaths this day provides the community to dispose of unwanted and expired medications in a safe and locked drop box locations across our Iowa counties. These boxes are safe, easy, anonymous, and often open 24/7 to aid in minimalizing potential harm and inappropriate access. According to the 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 6.2 million Americans misused controlled prescription drugs. A majority of the abused prescription medication were obtained from family and friends, located right at home in the medicine cabinets. The last Take Back Day brought in almost 1 million pounds of unused or expired prescription medication, making it the largest amount collected since the program began in 2010. This brings the total amount of prescription drugs collected by the DEA since the fall of 2010 to 9,964,714 pounds. To be a part of National Prescription Take Back Day and keep your family, friends, and home safe here are some listed drop box locations near you. To locate more collection sites near you or to find out more information about National Prescription Take Back Day you can find more information by visiting https://takebackday.dea.gov/. In Benton County, take prescription drugs to the Benton County Sheriff’s Office.