Saturday is Prescription Drug Take Back Day

Do you have unused prescription drugs in your medicine cabinet? Saturday is the day to dispose of them — and to keep them from falling into the wrong hands — at locations operated by participating police and sheriff’s departments and others during the Drug Enforcement Prescription Drug Take Back Day.

The public may dispose of tablets, capsules, patches and other solid forms of prescription drugs at Take Back locations between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday. A searchable list of collection locations, which includes sites run by local sheriff’s and police departments, is at TakeBackDay.com.

Collection sites will not accept syringes, sharps and illicit drugs. Liquid products should remain tightly sealed in their original container. Vaping devices and cartridges will be accepted, as long as lithium batteries are removed, according to the DEA’s Omaha Division, which includes Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.

“It happens all too often where leftover prescription medications are forgotten about and sit unused in a medicine cabinet,” DEA Omaha Division Special Agent in Charge Steven T. Bell said in a statement. “We need to remove that temptation for misuse and experimentation by disposing of prescriptions that are no longer needed in an environmentally safe way.

“In addition, our hope is that Take Back Day serves as an opportunity for families to have open and honest conversations about the potentially life altering consequences that can come from drug use and abuse.”

According to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, opioids, codeine and morphine are the most misused prescription pain medications.