IISG’s Unwanted Meds program assists DEA’s nationwide drug take-back event

Posted October 2nd, 2012 in Great Lakes Cleanup
Thousands of residents in Illinois and Indiana came out last Saturday with the goal of ridding their homes of unwanted pharmaceuticals as part of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) 5th annual National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. police officers and volunteers in more than 200 locations in Illinois and 70 in Indiana collected bottles, boxes, and sometimes even garbage bags full of prescription and over-the-counter human and veterinary medications. Everything collected will be properly incinerated by the DEA.
  
IISG staffers were at two of these locations at Walgreens stores in Champaign and Urbana, joining local police officers and Walgreens representatives to collect medication, answer questions about the environmental effects of throwing away or flushing pharmaceuticals, and provide information on how to safely dispose of medications when collection events are not available.
 
At both locations, people began lining up to hand over their medicine even before the event began. IISG volunteers heard from several people that they had been saving medications in anticipation of Saturday’s event. Take-back event regulars brought medications accumulated just since April’s DEA-sponsored event, but some brought pharmaceuticals with much older time stamps. One woman disposed of medicine she had been storing in her cabinet since 2005, and another brought in medication that was almost 20 years old. Exact figures on how many pounds of pharmaceuticals were collected during the 4-hour event won’t be announced by the DEA for several weeks, but police officers involved in the event described the day as on track to exceed previous take-back events.
 


Single-day collection events like this are an important way to limit negative impacts to wildlife and local waterways from prescriptions and medications that are improperly disposed of. A wide-range of pharmaceutical chemicals has been found in rivers, groundwater, and drinking water throughout the country due to medications being flushed down the toilet or thrown in the trash. The impact of these chemicals on long-term human health is still unknown, but a connection between pharmaceutical-contaminated waters and impaired development, behavior, and reproduction has been found in many species of fish and other aquatic wildlife.

 
Ridding homes of unused medication can also help protect the elderly, children, and pets from accidental poisonings and reduce instances of prescription or over-the-counter drug abuse.
 

IISG has been educating people on pharmaceutical stewardship issues and helping communities establish safe and legal permanent medicine collection programs for more than six years. For additional information on how to dispose of medicine between take-back events or in areas where collections are not available, visit www.unwantedmeds.org.    

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Congress is finalizing the FY26 budget, and federal funding for Sea Grant programs across the country—including Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant—is uncertain. Sea Grant programs have consistently had broad community and political support, and now such support is more important than ever.Add your name to our sign-on letter urging Congress to support continuation of programs benefiting the Great Lakes, supporting local economies, and connecting communities with science-backed solutions.Scan the QR code or visit the link in bio to take action.

Stay updated with the latest environmental education happenings in the Great Lakes region. The Center for Great Lakes Literacy’s latest newsletter features upcoming events, professional learning opportunities, and valuable educational resources. Don’t miss out on these exciting updates—click the link in bio to read more and get involved!

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Stay updated with the latest environmental education happenings in the Great Lakes region. The Center for Great Lakes Literacy’s latest newsletter features upcoming events, professional learning opportunities, and valuable educational resources. Don’t miss out on these exciting updates—click the link in bio to read more and get involved!

Out with the old. A newly updated UnwantedMeds.org is here to make safe disposal of old medications easier than ever.

Read more at the link in bio.

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Out with the old. A newly updated UnwantedMeds.org is here to make safe disposal of old medications easier than ever. Read more at the link in bio.

We are excited to offer the opportunity to propose a speaker or panel session during the 2026 Emerging Contaminants in the Environment Conference April 28-29. The conference will feature traditional 15-minute presentations and a poster session on the latest in emerging contaminant research, policies, and outreach in the soil, water, and air.

The deadline to propose a session is June 16, 2025.

Learn more at the link in bio.

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We are excited to offer the opportunity to propose a speaker or panel session during the 2026 Emerging Contaminants in the Environment Conference April 28-29. The conference will feature traditional 15-minute presentations and a poster session on the latest in emerging contaminant research, policies, and outreach in the soil, water, and air.The deadline to propose a session is June 16, 2025.Learn more at the link in bio.
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