OMAHA, Neb. (KCAU) — Drug Take Back Day was a massive success according to the Omaha Office of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Twice a year, the DEA host a day in which those in America are encouraged to turn over their leftover prescription drugs to keep them out of the wrong hands. The events are intended to be easy for families to use to get rid of their unnecessary medication. This year’s fall event led to 13,600 pounds of unneeded medications being turned over to the DEA across 150 test sites in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The nationwide total was about 650,000 pounds of medication at a total of 5,000 collection sites.

“Together with our law enforcement partners, we removed and safely disposed of nearly 7 tons of unneeded prescription medications from our Midwestern communities, DEA Omaha division special agent in charge Justin C. King said.

King said he hopes that the medications being out of the house removed the temptation to experiment with prescription medication. He said he encourages families to keep on top of what’s in their medicine cabinet and safely dispose of anything that they don’t need anymore by dropping medications off at year-round drop-off site.

In April 2017 there were only 2,200 safe collection agents that worked with the program year-round. By November 2022 that list had grown to 15,000 including more than a dozen sites in the Sioux City area. The entire list can be viewed on the DEA website.