West Texas Poison Center Hosts Take Back Day For Prescription Drugs

EL PASO, Texas – The West Texas Poison Center will be taking part in the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day to provide the community with the opportunity to properly dispose of unused prescription medications and prevent them from landing in the wrong hands.

Clearing out our medicine cabinets is a preventative measure to deter accidental poisonings in children or the misuse of prescription drugs.

Expired, unused or unwanted medications can be safely and anonymously disposed at the West Texas Poison Center outside the UMC Associate Parking Garage located behind University Medical Center of El Paso (4815 Alameda Ave.) on Saturday, April 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Take Back Day is sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) twice a year (April and October) as a way to combat the drug overdose epidemic in the U.S.

During the last Take Back Day in October, the DEA El Paso Division collected 4,409 pounds of prescription medications from various sites in El Paso, Midland, Alpine, Las Cruces, Albuquerque, and New Mexico Tribal Lands, according to the DEA.

For information about yearlong drug disposal locations, visit the “Collection Site Locator” tab on the DEA’s website: dea.gov.

For more information about proper drug disposal or possible poisonings, contact the West Texas Poison Center at 1-800-222-1222.