By Ashley Yaugher and Haven Dixon
Twice per year, the DEA partners with local, community-based organizations around the country to hold National Take Back Day and take action to prevent the use of medications other than prescribed and other substances, including vape devices.
The DEA began National Prescription Medication Take Back Day in 2010 to provide easy opportunities to remove unused prescriptions and other medications that are habit forming. With the CDC Injury Center reporting 48% of Utah residents being prescribed an opioid medication in 20200, and the American Medical Association reporting that 70% of these opioid prescriptions go unused2, Utahns are not immune to this crisis.
These take back events are critical in the fight against substance use disorder (SUD) and overdose deaths within our local communities. According to the Utah Department of Health, for every 1,000 persons, Utah providers wrote 622 opioid prescriptions in 20201.
In 2021, the Office of the Medical Examiner reported 566 accidental overdose deaths in Utah alone, almost 70% of which involved opioid medication3. By getting unneeded and expired medications out of our homes and into proper disposal receptacles, we can reduce accidental poisonings, SUD and overdoses.
The next National Take Back Day is just around the corner on Saturday, Oct. 29, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The Carbon & Emery Opioid & Substance Use (CEO-SU) Coalition, local law enforcement, and our partners in Carbon and Emery counties hosted local events for October 2021 and April 2022 Take Back Days. Everyone who came to the events received a swag bag with educational materials and swag donated by the coalition partners. Between the two sponsored locations and events, the team was able to collect and dispose of over 40 pounds of unused medications from our rural communities. This adds up, and on the last Take Back Day in April 2022, a total of 10,879 lbs4 of medications were collected statewide from our Utah communities.
This fall, Take Back Day is on Saturday, Oct. 29. We will have a location in Price for residents of both Emery and Carbon counties (located at 435 South UT-55, Price, UT 84501, the parking lot across from Sutherlands). This location will have easy, drive-through access to anonymous medication or vape device drop-off. Local law enforcement will be on site to properly dispose of any medications or vape devices (without the battery). Stop in early to make sure you get a swag bag or brunch (from 10 a.m. to noon for the first 100 people).
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If you miss your local Take Back Day and need to dispose of prescription medications, you can find year-round drop off locations or other resources for local substance use disorder or recovery needs online at extension.usu.edu/heart/resource-books.
Additional Resources:
DEA Drop Box Finder: apps.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/pubdispsearch/spring/main
DEA National Take Back Day Website: takebackday.dea.gov/
Utah Drop Box Locator: useonlyasdirected.org/locations
SAHMSA Opioid Treatment Site Locator: Dpt2.samhsa.gov/treatment/directory.aspx
Utah Resource Locator: 211utah.org/
References
1 Utah Department of Health Opioid Data Dashboard
2 Prescription Opioid Analgesics Commonly Unused After Surgery: A Systematic Review. 2017. JAMA.
3 Office of the Medical Examiner’s Fatal Overdose Surveillance Report
4DEA National Take Back Day Statistics for April 2022
