- Federal officials have set up locations across the country on National Prescription Drug Take Back Day for people to dispose of their old medications.
- They say it’s important to properly dispose of prescriptions because they can be sold or used by other people.
- They say old medications should never be tossed into a garbage can or flushed down a toilet.
This year’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day today is a call to action reminding every household that small acts make a major difference.
Federal officials say you can do your part in battling the opioid epidemic and drug overdoses by clearing your medicine cabinets of unwanted, unused, or expired medications and properly disposing of them at supervised safe sites across the country.
“Overdose deaths happen every day in this country and, in fact, have risen since the pandemic hit,” a spokesperson for the Drug Enforcement Administration told Healthline.
“What people fail to realize, or may not even know, is that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends,” the spokesperson added.
“In far too many cases, someone looking for prescription drugs to abuse or sell will get them from the home of a relative or friend who might never miss them,” the spokesperson said. “That’s just one of the reasons it’s so important to dispose of unwanted, unused, or expired medications.”
Source: healthline