What is National Take Back Initiative?

The National Take Back Initiative is a voluntary program in the United States, encouraging the public to return excess or expired drugs. The take back events occur twice annually, in the spring and in the fall. The program is coordinated by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Drug take-back programs are a common and environmentally supportive method for avoiding the improper disposal of unused pharmaceuticals. One of the objectives of the program is to avoid disposal of drugs by flushing them to the local sewage system, which causes water pollution. Municipal sewage treatment plants are not designed to treat pharmaceuticals, and the drugs tend to pass through the plant untreated, to the receiving water body.