Harrisburg, PA – Ahead of Saturday’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) is releasing an easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide to help Pennsylvanians safely dispose of unused or unwanted medications – a critical overdose prevention strategy that helps to reduce access to potentially misused medications and ultimately makes communities safer.
Since Governor Josh Shapiro took office, his Administration has collected and destroyed nearly 540,000 pounds of unused and unwanted prescription medications through its Prescription Drug Take-Back Program – roughly half the weight of the world’s largest operating steam locomotive Governor Shapiro welcomed to Pennsylvania earlier this year, or the weight of more than 250 Liberty Bells stacked on top of each other.
“The sheer weight alone of medications collected through the Shapiro Administration’s take-back program is a powerful reminder of the impact we can make when we work together to prevent overdoses,” said DDAP Secretary Dr. Latika Davis-Jones. “By having hundreds of permanent take-back boxes throughout Pennsylvania year-round, we are making sure Pennsylvanians have ongoing access to safely dispose of unused and unwanted prescription medications, helping to reduce the risk of misuse and overdose every day. This guide is going to make that process easy and accessible because the easier we make it for people to do the right thing, the greater our opportunity is to make a meaningful difference in prevention.”
The Administration’s take-back program offers year-round opportunities to dispose of medication through nearly 900 take-back boxes across the Commonwealth.
Check a Box. Find a Box. Go to a Box.
DDAP’s Prescription Drug Take-Back Step-by-Step Guide is broken down into a few easy steps:
- Check a box – Determine if your medications are expired, unused, or unwanted
- Find a box – Where to locate a take-back box
- Go to a box – Safe disposal of the medications
The guide is designed to make safe medication disposal simple and accessible by providing clear, step-by-step instructions so Pennsylvanians know what to do and where to go to reduce the risk of medication misuse and overdose.
Since the inception of Pennsylvania’s drug take-back program in 2015, nearly 1.7 million pounds, or 846 tons, of prescription medication have been destroyed across 67 Pennsylvania counties. The hundreds of boxes are in convenient drop-off locations such as state and local police departments, pharmacies, and hospitals.
More information on commonly accepted medications and tips on how to safely handle prescriptions in your home is available at pa.gov.
National Take-Back Days Boost PA’s Program
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has offered National Prescription Drug Take-Back Days – one in the spring and one in the fall - since 2010 with the goal of fighting prescription drug misuse by creating convenient ways to dispose of medication that could otherwise be misused.
During the most recent National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day in April 2026, the DEA collected over 28,000 pounds of unused medication in Pennsylvania alone across more than 210 collection sites.
For more information on National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, visit takebackday.dea.gov.
###