Mark your calendar: April 26 is the DEA Drug Take-Back Day
Almost every home has one; a medicine cabinet or drawer filled with expired and unwanted medications. While they might seem harmless, the truth is they pose a very real danger.
According to the DEA, the majority of teenagers abusing prescription drugs get them from family and friends—and the home medicine cabinet. When taken without a prescription or under a doctor’s supervision, pharmaceutical drugs can be just as dangerous as street drugs.
The DEA’s 28th Annual National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day provides the perfect opportunity to rid your home of unneeded medication and help prevent medication misuse and opioid addiction from ever starting.
Slated for Saturday, April 26, Take-Back Day provides an anonymous, no-questions-asked way to safely dispose of expired and unneeded medications.
2024’s April Take-Back Day yielded 670,136 pounds of medication dropped off at nearly 5,000 sites, including the MedSafe located in the lobby of Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC). The first non-law enforcement 24-hour disposal location in the state of Vermont, SVMC’s MedSafe is available to the public not just on Take-Back Day, but every day of the year.
Since its installation in 2017, over 3,000 pounds of unwanted and expired medications have been disposed of in SVMC’s MedSafe. The public is welcome to dispose of unused or expired controlled substances and over-the-counter medications. Liquid products, such as cough syrup, should remain in their original container and the cap must be tightly sealed to prevent leakage. Like other Take-Back day drop-off sites, MedSafe does not accept syringes, sharps, and illicit drugs.
To find other DEA Take-Back locations by zip code, click here.