Crime & Safety

National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day Is Saturday

St. Louis County Police Department officers will join Drug Enforcement Administration officials in collecting and destroying potentially dangerous, expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs this Saturday.

The fifth annual, national drug take-back day will be held Saturday (Sept. 29) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with St. Louis County Police Department officers again partnering with Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officials to execute this initiative locally.

Organizers said the overall goal is to prevent unused prescription medication from becoming available for abuse, and to keep unused prescription medication out of the nation's water supply.

Americans participating in DEA’s four previous Take-Back Days turned in nearly 1.6 million pounds—almost 774 tons—of prescription drugs, most recently at almost 5,700 sites operated by nearly 4,300 of the DEA’s local law enforcement partners. DEA’s last event collected more than double the pills as the first event two years ago, with almost 50 percent more participating agencies and sites this past April than in September of 2010, according to statistics on the DEA website.

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The drug take-back service is free and anonymous, with no questions asked.

St. Louis County Police Department officers will collect drugs at four sites Saturday:

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  • North St. Louis County: North County Recreation Complex, 2577 Redman Road, 63136
  • South St. Louis County: Mehlville Substation, 3229 Lemay Ferry Road
  • West St. Louis County: City of Clarkson Valley Substation, 15933 Clayton Road, 63011 and .

Other police departments participating in Saturday's take-back program include:

  • Arnold Police Department
  • Ballwin Police Department
  • Chesterfield Police Department
  • Creve Coeur Police Department
  • Clayton Police Department
  • Ellisville Police Department
  • Eureka Police Department
  • Florissant Police Department
  • Frontenac Police Department
  • Hazelwood Police Department
  • Kirkwood City Police Department
  • Ladue Police Department
  • Maryland Heights Police Department
  • Maplewood Police Department
  • Olivette Police Department
  • City of Sunset Hills Police Department
  • Webster Groves Police Department

Click here to search by zip code for additional drug take-back locations being compiled by the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Diversion Control.

For year-round, 24x7 drug donation needs, five collection boxes are available at countywide police precinct stations for residents to dispose of unwanted prescription and over-the-counter medications.

The year-round drug collections boxes are available at the following locations:


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