United States Drug Enforcement Administration

NEW ORLEANS – On Oct. 29, 2022, communities across the country demonstrated their continued support for DEA’s bi-annual National Prescription Drug Take Back Day by safely disposing of more than 647,000 pounds of unneeded medications at nearly 5,000 collection sites across the country.

Since its inception in 2010, DEA’s National Prescription Take Back Day has removed almost 17 million pounds of unneeded medications from communities across the country.

DEA’s New Orleans Field Division, which covers Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas, collected 40,207 pounds of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs for disposal at over 450 collection sites throughout the division.  The amounts collected for each state within the division was the following: Louisiana – 4,002 pounds; Mississippi –4,128 pounds; Alabama – 5,142 pounds; and Arkansas – 26,935 pounds. 

“The Take Back campaign is part of DEA’s continued efforts to protect our communities and create healthier environments by offering the safe disposal of medications,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. “We appreciate the community support we see during these events and encourage everyone to remove unneeded medications from their home.”

 “Residents in this four-state region took a vital step in reducing the risk of prescription drug diversion and abuse by turning in over 40,000 pounds of medications,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Brad L. Byerley.  “DEA thanks the citizens – including our federal, state and local and tribal law enforcement and community partners - for their tremendous support in this effort to keep these drugs out of the wrong hands.” 

DEA continues to expand opportunities to make safe disposal of medications more accessible nationwide.  DEA is pleased to announce it has registered a record number of authorized collectors – pharmacies and medical facilities – to collect unused and unwanted prescription drugs year-round. Since April 2017, DEA increased the number of authorized collectors from more than 2,200 to 15,000. A list of permanent drug-drop boxes located in communities across the country can be found here.

Safe medication disposal receptacles along with DEA Take Back events provide families easy, no-cost opportunities to get rid of unnecessary medicines stored in the home that can be susceptible to abuse and theft.

Complete results for DEA’s fall National Prescription Drug Take Back Day are available at www.DEATakeBack.com.

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