Attorney General Steve Marshall is urging Alabamians to participate in the Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day April 24 – and a location in Franklin County will be open as a collection site.

This year’s event – the 20th DEA National Prescription Drug Take Back—has collection sites throughout Alabama scheduled to be available from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. In Franklin County the Russellville Police Department will host a collection site at Walmart in Russellville.

The program is sponsored by the DEA to combat the abuse or misuse of potentially dangerous medicines that have expired or are no longer needed by those for whom they were prescribed. Law enforcement officers will be present at sites throughout Alabama to receive unused prescription drugs for safe and proper disposal.

Since the first Take Back event in Alabama, in September 2010, the amount of drugs collected continues to increase. Throughout all of Alabama’s previous take-back events, a total of about 96,317 pounds of unwanted, unused or expired drugs have been removed and disposed of safely.

“For many years Prescription Drug Take Back has served a valuable public service to protect our children, homes and environment, and now it is more vital than ever,” said Marshall. “We have seen a troubling rise in drug overdoses, a situation that has been worsened this past year during the COVID-19 pandemic with many people isolated and suffering from anxiety and with substance abuse subsequently on the rise.”

Deliveries of drugs to DEA National Prescription Drug Take Back Day events are confidential, with no personal information collected and no questions asked. Participants are encouraged to remove labels or black out information beforehand.

A listing of additional collection sites may be found through a search at www.DEATakeBack.com.