October 29, 2020

Thousands of Pounds of Old Medications Destroyed as Part of Operation Medicine Drop

(Raleigh, NC) - The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) collected and destroyed 29,330 pounds of unused prescription medications this week as part of Operation Medicine Drop (OMD) and National Prescription Drug Take Back Day which is sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Administration.  That translates into 21.9 million dosage units.  In spite of the coronavirus pandemic, people continued to fill drop boxes across the state in pharmacies, hospitals, clinics, police departments and sheriffs’ offices with old medications.  On Wednesday, October 28, 2020, the medications were taken to a state approved incinerator in Alamance County where they were safely and properly destroyed.

OMD is a partnership between Safe Kids North Carolina, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the North Carolina Department of Justice and Attorney General Josh Stein’s Office, the North Carolina Department of Insurance, the North Carolina National Guard Counterdrug Task Force, the SBI and law enforcement agencies across the state.  Since 2013, OMD has collected 239.2 million prescription pills. 

Please see below for the number of medications that have been collected and destroyed since 2013.  These numbers reflect OMD events for each year: 

  2013 – 20,176 lbs.

2014 – 9,932 lbs.

  2015 – 26,238 lbs.

  2016 – 41,385 lbs.

  2017 – 48,354 lbs.

  2018 – 62,239 lbs.

  2019 – 68,056 lbs.

  2020 – 42,815 lbs.

You can visit www.morepowerfulnc.org for more information and to find a drop box near you.