On Saturday, September 27, 2014, the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) gave the public an opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. The public brought their pills for disposal at several locations.
The Office of the Sheriff collected a total of 311 pounds of unwanted prescription drugs.
Unused medications in homes create a public health and safety concern, because they can be accidentally ingested, stolen, misused, and abused. from the home medicine cabinet.
The public’s enormous response to DEA’s eight previous National Take Back Days demonstrates its recognition of the need for a way to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous prescription drugs.
Last April, Americans turned in over 780,000 pounds (390 tons) of prescription drugs. Since its first National Take Back Day in September of 2010, DEA has collected more than 4.1 million pounds (over 2,100 tons) of prescription drugs throughout all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and several U.S. territories.
