Colorado Law Enforcement Agencies Welcome Surrendered Prescription Drugs

DENVER (CBS4) — On Saturday, the Denver Police Department encouraged residents to check their medicine cabinets for unwanted/unused medications and toss them out for National Prescription Drug Takeback Day. The goal of the annual event is to ensure environmentally safe disposal of prescription medicines and to reduce the likelihood of drug misuse or abuse.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 100,306 drug overdose deaths in the United States during the 12 month period ending in April 2021, an increase of 28.5% from the 78,056 deaths during the same period the year before.

Another study shows that most abused prescription drugs were obtained from family and friends, often from home medicine cabinets.

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the drug take-back day event in October of 2021, partnering law enforcement agencies nationwide collected 744,082 pounds of unwanted medicines, which is the weight equivalent of approximately 117 Denver Police patrol SUVs.