San Diego County CA— The final tally is in from the 13th National Prescription Take-Back Day this past Saturday, April 29, 2017. DEA and its partners took back prescription drugs at 40 locations in San Diego County and four locations in Imperial County.
Over the course of four hours, 10,914 pounds or almost 5.5 tons of drugs were turned into the locations in both counties. San Diego Citizens turned in 10,443 pounds and Imperial County citizens turned in 471 pounds of prescription drugs.
Nationally, the event brought in 900,386 pounds (450 tons) at close to 5,500 sites across the nation. Marking the 13th National Prescription Take Back Day since September 2010, these events have altogether collected 8,103,363 pounds (4,052 tons) of prescription drugs.
“We are pleased to see that Southern Californians are motivated and continue to make their homes safer for our youth,” says DEA San Diego Special Agent in Charge William R. Sherman. “Citizens can now take advantage of the permanent drop off boxes at over 38 locations in San Diego County in the stations of the San Diego Sheriff’s Department, the San Diego Police Department, Oceanside Police Department, Escondido Police Department, Carlsbad Police Department, Coronado Police Department and the Chula Vista Police Department. We thank all our law enforcement partners in this effort.”
Other participants in this initiative include the San Diego County Sheriff’s, La Mesa Police Department, El Cajon Police Department, Chula Vista Police Department, Carlsbad Police Department, Oceanside Police Department, Coronado Police Department, Escondido Police Department, Rx Drug Abuse Task Force, SDSU Police Department, Veterans Administration Police, San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, US Attorney’s Office, SD County Probation, US Probation, California Department of Justice, Prescription Drug Abuse Task Force, HIDTA, California Border Alliance Group, San Diego Police Department, United States Marine Corps, US Navy, San Diego Community College Police Department, San Diego County Supervisor Dave Roberts, SD County Health & Human Services, Californians for Drug Free Youth, and San Diego County Prevention Coalitions, Calexico Police Department, Imperial Police Department, El Centro Police Department, Brawley Police Department, Calipatria Police Department, California Highway Patrol, Imperial County Sheriff’s Office and Imperial County Office of Education.
For more information about Prescription Drug Abuse, please visit www.dea.gov.