Safely Dispose of Unused Prescription Medications

Published on April 22, 2021

Denver – Thursday, April 22, 2021 – The Denver Police Department (DPD) encourages residents to check their medicine cabinets for unwanted/unused medications and to drop them off at one of the nine participating Denver Police locations for National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on Saturday, April 24, 2021, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The goal of this event is to ensure the environmentally-safe disposal of prescription medicines and to reduce the likelihood of drug misuse or abuse.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. recorded the most-ever overdose deaths during the 12-month period ending July 1, 2020, with 83,544 Americans overdosing. Another study shows that most abused prescription drugs were obtained from family and friends, often from the home medicine cabinets, which is why the Denver Police Department is offering the following locations for residents to safely dispose of their unwanted prescriptions.

Denver Police drop off locations (DPD’s Administration Building is not a drop off location):

  • District 1 - 1311 West 46th Avenue
  • District 2 - 3921 Holly Street
  • District 3 - 1625 South University Boulevard
  • District 4 - 2100 South Clay Street
  • District 5 - 4685 Peoria Street
  • District 6 - 1566 Washington Street

Additional locations include Denver King Soopers at:

  • 2810 North Quebec Street
  • 10406 East MLK Jr. Boulevard
  • 18605 East Green Valley Ranch Boulevard

Please note that these sites cannot accept liquids (including intravenous solutions), syringes and other sharps, and illegal drugs. The DEA will continue to accept vaping devices and cartridges at its drop off locations – as long as lithium batteries have been removed.

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, partnering law enforcement agencies nationwide collected 985,392 pounds of unwanted medicines (the weight equivalent of approximately 156 Denver Police patrol SUVs) during the drug take-back day event in October of 2020.

For additional information on the program or other drop off locations, please visit http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/index.html

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