Every Day is RX Take Back Day
Make Every Day is Take Back Day
If you missed DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, you can still take advantage of the nearly 17,000 year-round drop-off locations.
DEA has launched a new campaign – Every Day is Take Back Day – to encourage the public to utilize year-round disposal sites across the country between biannual Take Back Days.
Clean out your medicine cabinets and help prevent dug misuse before it starts.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts 14,675 people died last year of prescription opioid poisoning or overdose.
You can drop off your old, unneeded, or unused medications at one of the pharmacies, hospitals, and businesses, working to help clean out medicine cabinets throughout the year. In addition, many police departments provide year-round drop boxes.
Find a location near you
How to Safely Dispose of Unused or Expired Medicine
The best way to dispose of most types* of unused or expired medicines (both prescription and over-the-counter) is to immediately use a take-back option drop off the medicine at a drug take-back location, or mail your expired or unused medicines using a pre-paid drug mail-back envelope.
If these options are not readily available, follow these guidelines:
If your medicine is on the FDA flush list, your next best option is to immediately flush these potentially dangerous medicines down the toilet.
If your medicine is not on the flush list, you should follow these instructions to discard the medicine in your trash at home.
*Check out the Medication Disposal Q&A for more information including how to dispose of needles and syringes. Some products with uncommon dosage forms (e.g., sprays, lozenges) have product-specific disposal instructions. Review the instructions that came with your prescription or contact your health care professional (e.g., pharmacist, doctor) to find out how to properly dispose of these medicines.