FAIRFAX, VA — Fairfax County will be participating in the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)'s National Drug Take Back Day on Saturday. The event will provide residents with additional locations to dispose of unused and expired medications.
The initiative is intended to prevent prescription drug misuse, accidental poisoning, and environmental harm. The program does not accept illegal drugs, needles, large quantities of liquids, pressurized canisters, or non-prescription ointments and lotions.
While prescription drugs are the focus of the program, they will also accept non-prescription pills, prescription ointments, pet medications, and e-cigarettes and vaping devices with their batteries removed.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, nearly 80 percent of heroin users in the 2000s reported first using prescription opioids prior to heroin. A separate study by the Annals of Internal Medicine found that nearly half of those who misused opioids first obtained them from friends or relatives. Removing unused and expired medications from medicine cabinets is seen as one way to prevent juvenile drug abuse.
Meanwhile, flushing unused drugs down the toilet or throwing them into the trash can have environmental impacts.
The following locations will be open on Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm.
Residents are asked to check their medicine cabinets for any unused or expired medication and to remove personal information from bottles and labels before disposal. For residents who cannot make it to the event, Fairfax County police stations and local pharmacies provide permanent drug disposal drop boxes.
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