Drug Take-Back Day: Denver police collected 1,400 pounds of unwanted prescription drugs

Thousands of Denver-metro residents deposited bottles with unused prescription drugs at the six district stations and the Cherokee Street headquarters.

Chloe Aiello

Oct. 24, 2016, 12:45 p.m.

The DEA introduced Drug Take Back Day to educate about prescription drug abuse. (Neur0nz/Flickr)

The Denver Police Department collected 1,400 pounds of old or unwanted prescription drugs on Saturday for the Drug Enforcement Agency’s annual Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.

Thousands of Denver-metro residents deposited bottles with unused prescription drugs at the six district stations and the Cherokee Street headquarters.

The Drug Enforcement Agency launched its national take back program in 2010 in an effort to provide a legal and environmentally friendly means of disposing of drugs, while also educating the public about the dangers of prescription drug abuse.

Saturday’s state and nationwide totals have not yet come in, but during the previous take back event in April, the DEA collected about 24,000 pounds of prescription drugs from Colorado’s 145 collection sites.

Multimedia business & healthcare reporter Chloe Aiello can be reached via email at [email protected] or twitter.com/chlobo_ilo.

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The DEA introduced Drug Take Back Day to educate about prescription drug abuse. (Neur0nz/Flickr)