-Gleason Dollar General
-Bob’s Pharmacy in Dresden
-Casey’s in Greenfield
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) and the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (TDMHSA) ask Tennesseans to take part in the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Take Back Day for prescription drugs on Saturday, April 24 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
The initiative addresses public safety and public health issues. It is an opportunity to rid homes of expired, unused, unwanted, and potentially dangerous prescription drugs. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked. Sites cannot accept liquids, needles, or sharps – only pills or patches.
Each county in the state has drug take back locations at their local law enforcement agencies.
Dropoff locations, available year-round, can be found online in a map of 355 authorized collection sites throughout Tennessee. Take Back Day events can be found at TNtogether.com. Substance Abuse Prevention Coalitions and other community groups team up with their local law enforcement to host the events. According to national research, about two-thirds of people who misuse or abuse prescription medications obtain them from family or friends.
This year’s Take Back Day is important because the April 2020 Take Back Day was canceled due to the pandemic, and the amount of medication collected in Tennessee during the October 2020 Take Back Day was about one-third the amount collected in October 2019.