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NEW YORK — All across the country pharmacies participated in helping customers dispose of their unwanted, unused and expired medications on National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, Saturday, October 26.
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is a national initiative that was organized by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to safely collect and dispose of unused or expired prescription medications. The goal is to prevent drug misuse and reduce the risk of accidental poisonings or overdoses. It also aims to limit the environmental harm that can result from improper disposal methods, such as flushing medications down the toilet or throwing them in the trash.
“Disposing of unneeded medications helps us protect the safety and health of our communities. Families can minimize the risk of medications falling into the wrong hands by simply bringing unused medications to one of our more than 4,100 drop off locations on [October 26],” said DEA administrator Anne Milgram. “National Prescription Drug Take Back Day would not be possible without our incredible local and state law enforcement partners and the community groups who work every year to make Take Back Day a success.”
Many drug chains and independents were doing their part for the event. Kroger and the Wheeling West Virginia Police Department partnered and collected nearly 100 pounds of medications.
“National Prescription Drug Take Back Day helps remind Americans to get rid of any unneeded, unwanted or expired medications in their medicine cabinets,” said Amy Thibault, director of external communications at CVS Pharmacy. “To make it easy, CVS Pharmacy has safe medication disposal kiosks available year-round at nearly 4,000 pharmacies nationwide. Prescription and over-the-counter medications are accepted. In addition, we hosted more than 40 prescription drug take back events this weekend, in collaboration with local law enforcement agencies,” she explained.
“Since 2014, we’ve been able to remove more than 8 million pounds of unwanted and expired medication through our safe medication disposal units. Selected CVS Pharmacy locations also offer DisposeRx, a solution that enables patients to safely discard certain unwanted or expired medications at home. Safely disposing of expired or unused medicine is an easy way to help protect children and family members by preventing them from coming into unsupervised contact with medication,” Thibault added.
Meijer first participated in the national program in February 2019 and has since collected nearly 200 tons of unneeded medications in easily identifiable kiosks near each of its in-store pharmacies. To date, in 2024, Meijer customers have returned nearly 76,000 pounds, or 37 tons, of unused/unwanted medications from proper disposal.
“At Meijer, every day is drug take back day. Customers can access the kiosks year-round for disposal of over-the-counter and prescription medications, including controlled substances, during normal pharmacy hours,” said Jackie Morse, group vice president of health and pharmacy at Meijer. “National Prescription Drug Take Back Day aims to provide a reminder of a safe, convenient and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, and we’ll continue to encourage our customers to take advantage of the program.”
Since the inception of its safe medication disposal program in 2016, Walgreens has collected and properly disposed of over 6 million pounds of unused prescription medications.
Walgreens has more than 1,550 kiosks across 46 states and Washington, D.C. These kiosks are a convenient way to ensure medications are not accidentally or intentionally misused.
This public service is accessed at no cost, year-round, by visiting a Walgreens safe medication disposal kiosk during regular pharmacy hours. Walgreens pharmacies that do not have safe medication disposal kiosks offer DisposeRx or other drug disposal options free of charge that are also available year-round upon request at the pharmacy counter.
“During Drug Take Back Day, and throughout the year, we encourage customers to dispose of unwanted or unused medications in Rite Aid stores,” said Michelle McEnroe, external communications specialist at Rite Aid.
Like many drug store chains, McEnroe noted that selected stores have a medication disposal bin in-store year round for customers to conveniently dispose of unwanted or unused medications during store hours. “At all Rite Aid locations, customers can purchase Dispose Rx packs for selected medications or stamped mailing envelopes. Our pharmacists are available for guidance as to how to properly dispose of unwanted or unused medications,” she noted.
