Healthy Homes - Prescription Drug Disposal

The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is spearheading a nationwide Medicine Take Back event for Saturday, April 28, 2012, from 10:00am - 2:00pm. Called the "National Take-Back Day", this event provides an opportunity for the public to surrender expired, unwanted, or unused pharmaceutical controlled substances and other medications to law enforcement officers for destruction.

The Division of Public Health and several organizations throughout the state are helping to organize this effort. There will be several collection sites throughout the State of Delaware on the day of this event, April 28. Take-Back Locations will be announced beginning in March 2012. Visit for information. Check out the event flyer for more details.

Medicines play an important role in treating certain health conditions and diseases, but they must be disposed of with care. Unused portions of these medicines must be disposed of properly to avoid harming the environment. The Delaware Division of Public Health supports efforts to ensure the safe and secure disposal of unused, unwanted, or expired medications.

• Do not flush medications down the toilet or drain
• Do not throw medications away in the trash

Instead, the public should take advantage of pharmaceutical "take-back" programs. Drug take-back programs for disposal are a good way to remove unwanted or expired medicines from the home and reduce the chance that someone may accidentally take the medicine. The Office of Healthy Environments partners with a number of organizations each year to organize and promote community medicine "take-back" events that collect medicines at a central location in each county in Delaware for proper disposal.

Controlled, non-controlled, and over-the-counter medications will be collected. Liquid products and creams in its containers will be accepted. Sharpies and syringes will not be accepted due to the potential hazard posed by blood-borne pathogens.

This program is absolutely anonymous and all efforts will be made to protect the anonymity of individuals disposing of medications. No questions or requests for identification will be made by law enforcement personnel present. Participants will remove any personal information from bottles or packages that contain pills/capsules and liquids and place the bottles or packages into the disposal box.

Made possible with the cooperation of the Delaware Cancer Consortium, and underwritten in part by the Delaware Health Fund.