Clean Out Cabinets: Drug Take Back Day Set for October 25
STATEWIDE — The Indiana State Police is once again partnering with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for its “Prescription Drug Take Back” initiative, an effort to combat prescription drug abuse and environmental hazards through the safe disposal of unused medications.
Collection sites will be set up nationwide on Saturday, October 25, 2025, for the anonymous and free disposal of expired, unused, and unwanted pill and liquid medications. The event is a crucial measure against the “alarmingly high” rates of prescription drug abuse and accidental poisonings across the U.S., with studies showing a majority of abused drugs are sourced directly from home medicine cabinets.
ISP Posts to Serve as Collection Sites
The ISP will have collection sites at almost every post across the state. “The state police of our 14 post, 13 of them will have a set up location inside the building,” said Captain and Chief Public Information Officer Ron Galaviz in an interview. “The only one that will not is the Toll Road that runs east and west across the northern part of the state.”
Most posts will be accepting medications on Saturday, October 25, 2025, between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. However, the Lafayette and Putnamville posts will hold their collections one day earlier on Friday, October 24, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
The partnership with the DEA has been a long-standing success. “This is an effort that we partnered with the DEA with over the last 14 or 15 years,” Captain Galaviz noted. “This has been a solid, solid program over that time and what it does, it allows members of the community to bring in their unwanted or expired medications for safe, legal, and proper disposal.”
Preventing Misuse and Protecting Waterways
A key goal of the initiative is to prevent medications from falling into the wrong hands and to protect the environment. Americans are typically advised that flushing medications down the toilet or throwing them in the trash can pose both health and safety hazards.
“The one thing that we’re really trying to do, Jeanette, is to keep these unwanted or expired medications from getting into our water system by flushing them down the toilet or down the drain,” Captain Galaviz stated, “or into the hands of people that should not have them, like kids.”
The DEA and ISP will accept liquid and pill medications, as well as vaping pens (without batteries) and vaping cartridges. Needles (new or used) WILL NOT be accepted for disposal. The service remains free and anonymous with no questions asked.
“We don’t rifle through that medication,” Galaviz explained. “As long as they bring it in, we have a box something for them to deposit those into, and then we package them up and get them back to the DEA, and the DEA then has a system for which they have those disposed of.”
Other Year-Round Options
While the DEA Take Back Day is a major event, Captain Galaviz reminded the public that other disposal avenues are available year-round.
“If for some reason [you] can’t make it to the State Police Post, other law enforcement agencies are participating,” he said. “And really, even everyday of the week, the big-name pharmacies, CVS and Walgreens, have take back boxes available during their business hours.”
The goal, Galaviz concluded, is to ensure proper disposal. “We are taking that many, you know again, unwanted medications out of out of mainstream to for proper disposal so that they don’t fall into the hands of or get into our waterways.”
To locate the nearest State Police Post, the public can go to the Indiana State Police on the Map HERE
To find other participating locations in Indiana or across the U.S., click HERE for the DEA.
If you miss this weekend’s event, Captain Galaviz encourages you to look in your community for other avenues to safely dispose of unwanted or expired medications at any time.
