April 18, 2024

On Saturday, April 27, 2024, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., the Garden Grove Police Department will participate in the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. The event gives the public an opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. Bring your pills for disposal to the Garden Grove Police Department, located at 11301 Acacia Parkway, Garden Grove 92842. (The DEA cannot accept liquids or needles or sharps, only pills or patches.) The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Last October, Americans turned in 300 tons (over 599,800 pounds) of prescription drugs at 4,675 sites operated by the DEA and its state and local law enforcement partners.

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 U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies have shown that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.

In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety and health hazards.

For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about the April 27 Take Back Day event, go to the www.DEATakeBack.com.