LAPD Blog

What:  Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), Betty Ford Center of Los Angeles, and Kaiser Permanente (KP) will give the public another opportunity to prevent leftover prescription and expired over the counter drugs from falling into the wrong hands or polluting the environment. Safely and legally dispose of unwanted chemicals in your medicine cabinet. In the wrong hands, these drugs could be harmful to our environment or worse, be used by children or criminals.   

***NO SHARP NEEDLES WILL BE ACCEPTED***

When:

Saturday, October 22, 2024

10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Where:

Bring your medications for disposal to the following collection sites:

Location 1- Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center

6041 Cadillac Avenue

Los Angeles, CA  90034

Parking Lot #3

Location 2- Kaiser Permanente Panorama City Medical Center

13652 Cantara Street

Panorama City, CA  91402

Front of North 3 Medical Office

Location 3- Kaiser Permanente South Bay Medical Center

Parkview Medical Office Building

25825 S. Vermont Avenue

Harbor City, CA  90710

Location 4- Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center

4760 West Sunset Boulevard

Hollywood, CA  90027

Location 5- Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills Medical Center
5601 De Soto Avenue
Woodland Hills, CA  91367

Location 6- Betty Ford Center Rite-Aid parking lot

11321 National Blvd Los Angeles CA 90064

LAPD and DEA Representatives will be available at collection site.

Why:   On September 26, 2015, Americans turned in 702,365 pounds—350 tons—of prescription drugs at more than 5,000 sites operated by the DEA and state and local law enforcement partners. 

The National Prescription Drug Take Back Day aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs.  Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.  In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines are—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety and health hazards.

The Los Angeles Police Department encourages the public to participate and help remove these unwanted, expired and unneeded prescription drugs from their home and use one of the six collection sites for disposal.