National Prescription Drug Take Back Day 2021: Lakeland Location

LAKELAND, FL — If you have half-empty bottles of unused prescription drugs littering your bathroom shelves or medicine cabinet, mark your calendars for Saturday.

This year’s first National Prescription Drug Take Back Day will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 24, giving residents of Lakeland an opportunity to dispose of the medications safely before they end up in the wrong hands.

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration will host the 20th event in cooperation with law enforcement agencies. The service is free and anonymous. All pills will be accepted, but liquids, needles and sharps can’t be taken during this event.

Lakeland Police Department is among participating agencies. Police will collect unused prescription drugs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lakeland Police Department, 219 N. Massachusetts Ave., Lakeland.

If you can’t make it there, find a drug take-back site here.

According to the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, millions of people every year misuse prescription pain relievers, stimulants, tranquilizers and sedatives. Nearly 50,000 people in the United States died from opioid-involved overdoses that year.

The survey also showed that a majority of misused prescription drugs were obtained from family and friends, often from a home’s medicine cabinet.

The last drug take-back event was held in October 2020. During the event, partners collected nearly 985,400 pounds of unused prescription drugs nationwide, the largest amount ever collected in the program’s 10 years. More than 143,555 pounds were collected in Florida.

Nearly 13.7 million pounds of expired, unused and unwanted prescription medications have been collected since the program’s inception.

The Environmental Protection Agency offers guidance on items not accepted during take-back events, including the disposal of sharps and other medical waste. The Food and Drug Administration offers tips on getting rid of liquid medicines that are expired or no longer needed.

Given the ongoing pandemic, both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency also have tips on how to safely dispose of drugs without leaving home.