Dublin Justice Center to host Document Destruction Day and Drug Take Back on Oct. 24

The bottle of expired painkillers in your medicine cabinet and the bank statements in the desk drawer both get a free ride out of your house on Saturday, Oct. 24.

Dublin's annual Drug Take Back Day returns that morning at the Dublin Justice Center, 6565 Commerce Parkway, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. — a drive-through where residents hand over old medications without leaving their cars. The city's Document Destruction Day runs the same morning, 9 a.m. to noon, at the City Fleet Management Building, 6351 Shier Rings Road, with on-site shredding for sensitive papers. Both are free.

What to bring

For the Drug Take Back, bring pills, gel caps, and dry medications — loose in a zip-close bag is preferred, or in bottles with the label crossed out or removed. Leave the liquids, creams, needles, syringes, inhalers, and vaping devices at home; those don't go in the box.

For shredding, the city accepts paper documents, receipts, mail, file folders, credit cards, CDs, and hard drives — up to five boxes or containers per vehicle, each under 50 pounds. Keep containers unsealed; file boxes are preferred, garbage bags accepted. Staples and binder clips are fine, but take items out of 3-ring binders, padfolios, and plastic or vinyl folders, and leave photographs home.

Why it matters

Unneeded pills are how drugs end up in the wrong hands on your street, and unshredded papers are how identity thieves work your curb. The city describes the shredding as a residential secure-shredding service meant to help protect against identity theft and keep sensitive information out of the wrong hands. Its Drug Take Back events are a free, safe way to rid homes of potentially dangerous, expired, unused, and unwanted prescription and over-the-counter drugs.

The Oct. 24 Drug Take Back is part of the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day organized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Dublin Police collected 206 pounds of unused or expired medications at its 2025 Drug Take Back event, according to the city.

The year-round backstop

A 24/7 medication drop box sits inside the Dublin Justice Center lobby near the Police Records reception window, at 6565 Commerce Parkway. The lobby is open around the clock, so the box is reachable any time, day or night; the Police Records Department is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The drop box accepts pills, patches, gel caps, dry medications, medication samples, and pet medications.

Anyone who misses the one-day window can still drop off medications any time, day or night, at the year-round lobby drop box — so pills never have to stay in the drawer.