Drug Take Back Day: Agencies accepting unused, unwanted prescription drugs

Los Angeles and Orange county residents who want to get rid of expired, unused or unwanted drugs will have an opportunity to safely discard them Saturday at multiple locations during National Drug Take-Back Day.

The effort, organized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, in partnership with local law enforcement agencies, is intended to underscore the importance of taking commonly abused drugs out of circulation.

Saturday will be the second Take-Back Day of 2023. The first was in April.

A complete list of dropoff sites is available at www.dea.gov/takebackday.

"The drug overdose epidemic in the United States is a clear and present public health, public safety and national security threat," according to a DEA statement. "National Prescription Drug Take Back Day reflects DEA's commitment to Americans' safety and health, encouraging the public to remove unneeded medications from their homes as a measure of preventing medication misuse and opioid addiction from starting."

The agency began holding take-backs 13 years ago. Since its inaugural event, 8,650 tons of prescription and non-prescription drugs have been collected at thousands of disposal sites throughout the country, according to officials.

In 2022, an estimated 111,000 people died from drug overdoses, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Roughly three- quarters of those deaths were from opioid use, principally the synthetic drug fentanyl, officials said.

The DEA noted that provisions in the federal Secure & Responsible Drug Disposal Act authorize pharmacies, hospitals and other facilities to serve as collection sites year-round.

In addition to drugs, vaping pens and cartridges will also be accepted at drop-off locations. No questions will be asked of people disposing of medications or other ingestible products.