With opioid overdose deaths increasing during the pandemic, the Drug Enforcement Administration has announced the 20th Drug Take Back Day is scheduled for April 24, and the City of Falls Church Police Department will participate as a collection site.

The public can drop off potentially dangerous prescription medications outside the Community Center, 223 Little Falls St., from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. on that Saturday. The collection site will adhere to Covid-19 guidelines, including requiring face coverings and social distancing.

The City of Falls Church Police will collect tablets, capsules, patches, and other solid forms of prescription drugs. Liquids (including intravenous solutions), syringes and other sharps, and illegal drugs will not be accepted.

Vaping devices and cartridges are also accepted, provided lithium batteries are removed.

At its last Take Back Day in October 2020, the DEA nationally collected a record-high amount of expired, unwanted, and unused prescription medications, with the public turning in close to 500 tons of unwanted drugs.

Over the 10-year span of Take Back Days, the DEA has brought in more than 6,800 tons of prescription drugs. With studies indicating a majority of abused prescription drugs come from family and friends, including from home medicine cabinets, clearing out unused medicine is essential.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. has seen an increase in overdose deaths during the Covid-19 pandemic, with 83,544 Americans overdosing during the 12-month period ending July 1, 2020, the most ever recorded in a 12-month period. The increase in drug overdose deaths appeared to begin prior to the Covid-19 health emergency, but accelerated significantly during the first months of the pandemic.