TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Floridians turned in more than 26,000 pounds of prescription drugs at 155 collection sites in October, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced.
Bondi highlighted Florida's contribution to last month’s record-breaking National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.
Across the country, on Oct. 28, 2017, the Drug Enforcement Administration collected 912,305 pounds of expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs.
As part of the program, Americans were encouraged to empty their medicine cabinets of expired or unnecessary drugs and to turn this medicine into participating collection sites for proper disposal.
“Being in the midst of the deadly opioid epidemic, I am encouraged and proud that so many Americans are stepping up to prevent drug abuse,” Bondi said. “I want to thank Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the hard-working men and women at the DEA and everyone who answered the call to action to enable this record amount of prescription drugs to be disposed of properly and not used to exacerbate the national opioid epidemic.”
According to the DEA, since starting Prescription Drug Take Back Days in 2010, the agency has collected more than 9 million unused drugs through the nationwide program.
The next Prescription Drug Take Back Day will be held on April 28, 2018.
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