March 28, 2024

18th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day

East Bay Residents safely disposed of 754 pounds of unwanted medications and vaping products.

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Barrington, RI – On Oct. 26, residents of Barrington, Bristol, East Providence and Warren dropped off unwanted and expired prescription medications and e-cigarette devices to more than 39 locations across the state, including the local police stations in all four communities. The items were then destroyed for safe disposal. Across RI a total of 4778 pounds of unwanted medications and vaping devices were collected and destroyed.

DEA, along with its law enforcement partners, have now collected nearly 12.7 million pounds of expired, unused, and unwanted prescription medications since the inception of the National Prescription Drug Take Back Initiative in 2010. The public has embraced Take Back Day events because they provide easy, no-cost opportunities to remove medicines from the home to prevent misuse, abuse, and theft.

“Our efforts don’t stop here, we encourage people to safely store their medications at home in a locked box or bag, never share medications, and to take any unwanted medications to a permanent drop off site as soon as they are done with them.” Says Madeline Marlow, East Bay Regional SOR Coordinator and East Providence Prevention Coalition Coordinator. Permanent drug drop boxes are located at most RI police departments, and 24/7 pharmacies, making drug disposal even more convenient. For a full list of permanent drop box locations, please visit www.riprevention.org.

The East Bay Regional Coalition would like to extend a huge thank you to all of those who participated in the October 2019 National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Special acknowledgement also needs to be given to our local law enforcement partners in all four communities for hosting this event bi-annually.

Complete results for DEA’s spring Take Back Day are available at www.DEATakeBack.com.

DEA’s next National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is April 25, 2020

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