National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is Saturday, October 26. Unused or expired medications are a public safety issue and can lead to accidental poisoning, overdose, and abuse. According to the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 9.9 million Americans misused controlled prescription drugs, and the majority of those drugs were obtained from the home medicine cabinets of our family and friends. This is an opportunity to help combat the issue by safely disposing of expired, unused, and unwanted prescription and over-the-counter drugs. See below to find out how you can participate.
Nationwide event: Saturday, October 26, 2019
Find a collection site near you by visiting the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Take Back Day website, or contact the local law enforcement agency in your city or county for the time and location nearest to your home.
DOE Headquarters event: Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Time: 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. only; no medications accepted before or after these hours
Locations: Forrestal GE Corridor; Germantown Cafeteria Lobby
In coordination with U.S. Department of Justice’s Drug Enforcement Agency, the DOE Headquarters Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is sponsoring this event to provide HQ employees with an opportunity to bring their prescription, over-the-counter, and pet medications to this event so they may be disposed of safely and appropriately. More detailed information about acceptable medications is provided in the table below. For more information, please contact HQ EAP at (202) 586-4995.
Yes: Items Accepted | No: Items Not Accepted |
|---|---|
Prescription medications | NO: Illegal substances. Take these to a law enforcement location. |
Over-the-counter medications | NO: Needles/Lancets/Syringes/Auto Injectors |
Vitamins | NO: Thermometers |
Medications for pets | NO: Aerosol cans |
Medicated ointments/lotions | NO: Empty containers |
Liquid medicine in glass or leak-proof containers (up to 12 oz.) | NO: Hydrogen Peroxide |
Inhalers | NO: Personal care products (non-medicated shampoo, etc.) |
How the Energy Department Helps Fight the Opioid Crisis
The Department of Energy (DOE), through its work at the National Laboratories and its partnership with other federal agencies, is providing a range of advanced scientific and technological tools to combat the opioid epidemic.
- To stem the tide of opioids that are smuggled in to the United States, DOE’s labs are developing portable, non-intrusive and highly effective detection technologies to screen incoming cargo, baggage and parcels for illicit drugs quickly and accurately.
- Armed with the world’s fastest supercomputers, DOE’s artificial intelligence (A.I.) capabilities are playing an important role in opioid abuse prevention efforts as well. We are working to identify genetic factors that could determine a person’s predisposition to opioid addiction, as well as developing less addictive pain medications and drugs that can reduce opioid relapses and overdose deaths.
For more information on how the Department of Energy is helping fight the opioid epidemic, please visit energy.gov or contact the Office of Public Affairs at (202)586-4940.