(Raleigh, NC) – A joint effort involving the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the North Carolina National Guard (NCNG) resulted in the collection of 15,700 pounds of unused prescription medications as part of Operation Medicine Drop’s (OMD) Fall Take Back Event and the DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. That’s approximately 11.8 million dosage units thanks to the citizens of North Carolina who continue to fill drop boxes at pharmacies, hospitals, clinics, police departments, and sheriff’s offices statewide with unused or expired medications. On October 30, 2024, the collected medications were safely and properly destroyed at an approved incinerator in Virginia.
OMD is a partnership between Safe Kids North Carolina, the DEA, the North Carolina Department of Justice, the North Carolina Department of Insurance, the NCNG Counterdrug Task Force, the SBI, and law enforcement agencies across the state. Since 2013, OMD has collected approximately 363.7 million prescription pills.  
Below are the annual totals of medications collected and destroyed during the fall and spring OMD events:

1. 2013: 20,176 lbs.
2. 2014: 9,932 lbs.
3. 2015: 26,238 lbs.
4. 2016: 41,385 lbs.
5. 2017: 48,354 lbs.
6. 2018: 62,239 lbs.
7. 2019: 68,056 lbs.
8. 2020: 42,815 lbs.
9. 2021: 45,170 lbs.
10. 2022: 44,500 lbs.
11. 2023: 40,810 lbs.
12. 2024: 35,660 lbs. 

The next Operation Medicine Drop event is scheduled for the spring of 2025. For more information and to find a drop box near you, visit www.morepowerfulnc.org.