Past Engagement
September - November 2025
Since 2021, the state of Oregon has had a program to make sure people have ways to safely dispose of the medicines they no longer need. The program is called Oregon’s Safe Medicine Return program. MED-Project works together with Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality to run this program.
There are many ways people can safely get rid of their medicines. People can:
- Leave medicines at a local drop box, like at a pharmacy or police station.
- Pick up a mail-back package with the address and postage on it at certain places.
- Ask for a mail-back package online at medtakebackoregon.org or through a call center.
People can do this in multiple languages.
When this program began in 2021, Oregon’s Kitchen Table worked with MED-Project to hear from people in Oregon. We asked what the easiest way would be to turn in medicines that people no longer need in a safe and secure way. MED-Project used people’s input to set up the program so it would work for communities across Oregon.
Many things have changed since 2021. So, MED-Project partnered again with OKT in the fall of 2025. OKT and MED-Project wanted to hear from people in Oregon about how the Safe Medicine Return program was working. We also wanted to hear people’s ideas about what could help people know about and use the program. What people shared will help MED-Project improve the Safe Medicine Return program in Oregon.