The Drug Enforcement Agency has issued a new regulation that will allow patients to return unused prescription drugs to pharmacies, hospitals, clinics and other authorized collectors.
The new regulation is an attempt to reduce the rising rates of prescription drug abuse and addiction. According to the Department of Justice, more than half of the 41,300 unintentional drug overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2011 involved prescription drugs and nearly four in 10 teenagers who have misused a prescription drug obtained the drug from their parents' medicine cabinet.
Patients will be able to drop off or mail extra or leftover prescribed controlled substances to authorized drop-off sites. Such controlled substances may include opioid painkillers, stimulants and depressants.
Until the passage of this regulation, patients were not permitted to return such drugs to pharmacies. Instead, they had to dispose of the drugs themselves or turn them over to law enforcement, according to The New York Times.
The DEA has previously hosted "take back" events, occurring twice annually where patients could anonymously return such controlled substances to police departments. The DOJ reports such events have taken in more than 4.1 million pounds of prescription pills over the past four years. The next take-back event will occur Sept. 27.
Facilities choosing to participate in the new regulations will have to register with the DEA and must have the means to destroy returned drugs on-site.
"With these new regulations, and with continued take-back events…we hope to increase those numbers and prevent more potentially harmful medications from being misused or abused by young people and others," said Attorney General Eric Holder in a video message announcing the regulation.
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