The Drug Enforcement Administration is asking everyone to clean out their medicine cabinets and dispose of unused, unwanted, and expired prescription medications.
The National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day will take place at sites around the country from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time on Saturday, April 28.
Photo courtesy DEA
Drugs shown here were collected as part of the third National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on Oct. 29, 2011.
The effort is aimed at preventing prescription drug abuse and diversion. Prescription medications that sit around unused in homes are vulnerable to theft or abuse. In many cases, abused prescription drugs are taken from medicine cabinets by friends and family, according to the DEA.
"Prescription drug abuse is a major epidemic across the country and DEA is committed to reducing the potential for misuse by providing a safe and secure method for Americans to clean out their medicine cabinets and properly dispose of unwanted, unneeded, or expired medications," DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart said in a statement.
This is the fourth Take-Back Day the DEA has sponsored since September 2010. During the last three collection days, Americans turned in nearly 500 tons of prescriptions drugs. The service is free and anonymous and takes place at locations including police and fire departments, churches, and universities.