On Saturday, October 23, 2021, the City of Chula Vista Environmental Services Division, the Chula Vista Police Department, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will provide the public an opportunity to dispose of unwanted prescription medication. The annual Drug Take Back Day will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and residents may bring expired, unused or unwanted prescription drugs for disposal to the Chula Vista Public Works Center located at 1800 Maxwell Road, Chula Vista. The event is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
To keep everyone safe, collection sites will follow local COVID-19 guidelines and regulations. Residents will remain in their vehicles and face masks are required. Please note that sites cannot accept liquids, needles or sharps; only pills or patches. In April 2021, Americans turned in nearly 839,543 pounds of prescription drugs at nearly 6,300 sites operated by the DEA and almost 5,000 of its state and local law enforcement partners. The DEA, along with its law enforcement partners, has now collected nearly 7,262 tons of expired, unused, and unwanted prescription medications since the inception of the National Prescription Drug Take Back Initiative in 2010. This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the United States are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Medicines that are improperly disposed in the trash or toilet also pose an environmental hazard to people and animals.
In addition to the DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, there are many other ways to properly dispose of unwanted prescription drugs every day, including the 11,000 authorized collectors that are available all year long. For more information, visit the DEA’s year-round collection site locator at https://apps2.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/pubdispsearch/spring/main?execution=e1. For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or the October 23 Take Back Day event, go to https://takebackday.dea.gov/.
