Morris County residents can clear out old and unused prescriptions on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, when the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration holds its 31st National Prescription Drug Take Back Day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The DEA says more than 4,300 law enforcement partners will run more than 4,400 collection sites across the country. Sites take tablets, capsules, patches and other prescription medications, along with liquid medications that are securely sealed in their original containers. Syringes, sharps and illicit drugs are not accepted. Registered locations can be found through the DEA’s Take Back Day collection site locator.
“By participating in Take Back Day, you are preventing potentially addictive medications from falling into the wrong hands,” DEA Administrator Terry Cole said in the agency’s announcement. The DEA says Take Back Day has helped remove more than 20 million pounds of unneeded medication from homes since 2010.
Can’t make it on a Saturday? Morris County has a year-round option. The Morris County Sheriff’s Office runs a Prescription Drug Drop Box Program with locked boxes in police department lobbies across the county, including the Denville Police Department at 1 St. Mary’s Place (973-627-4900, ext. 360). There is also a box in the front lobby of the Morris County Courthouse, 56 Washington St. in Morristown, open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The county says the program, which started in 2013, has destroyed more than 78,000 pounds of medication.
The county drop boxes take pills, capsules, prescription patches, over-the-counter medications, vitamins, samples and pet medications, plus pill bottles and small boxes. They do not take syringes, needles, liquids, inhalers, aerosol cans or thermometers. That means liquid medicine is better saved for Take Back Day. The drop boxes are for residents only, not businesses or clinics.
Citing federal SAMHSA data, the DEA notes that prescription opioids such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine and morphine are among the most commonly misused pain medications, and that getting unneeded drugs out of the house cuts the risk of misuse and accidental ingestion. For local recovery resources, see our coverage of the Hope One recovery van’s Denville stop.
Photo: Tara Winstead via Pexels.
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