National Drug Take Back Day

Hello again from Beth, one of your Pharmacy Chicks! The 2025 spring National Drug Take Back Day is Saturday, April 26. The DEA has sponsored this event in April and October of each year since the fall of 2010. This spring will be the 27th National Take Back Day. In October 2024, approximately 314 tons of medications were disposed of across the country during Drug Take Back Day events. This is a time when we emphasize cleaning out unneeded medications from our homes and disposing of them safely. The message for this spring’s Drug Take Back Day is “Clean them out. Keep them safe. Take them back.”

The 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) examined the use and misuse of psychotherapeutic drugs that are available by prescription in the United States. These drugs include prescription stimulants, tranquilizers, or sedatives, and pain relievers. Misuse of these drugs is defined as using them in a way not directed by a healthcare provider, which includes using drugs without a prescription or using them in greater amounts, more often, or longer than prescribed. The survey indicated that approximately 5% (14.2 million people) aged twelve or older in 2022 misused prescription psychotherapeutic drugs in the past year. With overlap occurring between drug types in this category, the estimates are 8.5 million people misusing prescription pain relievers, 4.8 million misusing prescription tranquilizers or sedatives, and 4.3 million people misusing prescription stimulants. The survey also showed that when misuse occurred where there was no prescription, these drugs were often obtained from family and friends, either by sharing or theft.

Unused or expired prescription and over-the-counter medications are a public safety issue, leading to accidental poisoning, overdose, theft, and abuse. These medications can be just as dangerous as street drugs when taken without a healthcare provider’s supervision. The non-medical use of prescription drugs ranks second only to marijuana as the most common drug of abuse in America.

According to the DEA, most teenagers that abuse prescription drugs get them from family and friends – and the home medicine cabinet. Unused prescription drugs thrown in the trash can be retrieved and abused or illegally sold. Proper disposal of unused drugs saves lives and protects the environment. The safe storage of medications can also help prevent unintentional pediatric poisonings. Make sure to keep your medications out of sight and out of reach of children and guests. Lock boxes work well for this purpose. The White County Anti-Drug Coalition has free lock boxes available for pickup at Sparta Drug Center.

Drug Take Back events or year-round Medication Disposal Boxes are the best way to dispose of old prescription or over-the-counter drugs. There are three year-round permanent Medication Disposal Boxes available in White County at the Sparta Police Department, the White County Justice Center, and Sparta Drug Center. These Medication Disposal Boxes are secure and private ways to dispose of unneeded medications. When transporting medications for disposal, leave them in the original containers for secure transport rather than plastic bags. Once the medications and containers have been placed into the box, they are not examined by anyone and are sent out for destruction following DEA approved methods.

While the preferred way to dispose of your medications is through a Take Back event or drug disposal box, if you are unable to dispose of your medications in this way, there are steps you can take to safely dispose of your medications at home.

• Take your medications out of their original containers.
• Mix the medications with an undesirable substance, such as used coffee grounds or cat litter.
• Put this mixture in a disposable container with a lid or into a sealable bag.
• Be sure to mark out or remove any personal information, including the prescription number, on the empty medication containers.
• The sealed container with the drug mixture and the empty medication containers can then be put in the trash.

There are some medications that are recommended to be flushed, rather than put into the trash, if you are unable to utilize a Take Back event or drug disposal box. While flushed medications can get into the water supply, medication substances also get into the water supply as they naturally pass through your body when you take the medicine. Medications that should be flushed include drugs that are sought after for misuse (pain killers, sleep medicines, nerve medicines, etc.) and drugs that can cause death or severe harm with even one dose (pain killers, blood thinners, certain heart medicines, etc.). If you aren’t sure whether you should flush a medication, talk with your pharmacist or healthcare provider for instructions.

Sparta Drug Center will be open from 9 a.m.-1 p.m., on Saturday, April 26, if you want to dispose of your medications on Drug Take Back Day. Or you can dispose of your medications at any of the permanent Medication Disposal Boxes during normal business hours of the Sparta Police Department, White County Justice Center, or Sparta Drug Center.

Remember, you can always stop by and see me at Sparta Drug Center or Jennifer at Payless Family Pharmacy with any questions you have about any of our topics or other healthcare needs. Pharmacy Chicks out!