The Drug Enforcement Administration is sponsoring the 20th nationwide Prescription Drug Take Back initiative Saturday.

The initiative seeks to prevent prescription drug abuse and theft through proper disposal of prescription drugs.

Collection sites will be set up nationwide for expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs, which will be properly disposed of without threat to the environment.

This program is for liquid and pill medications. Vaping pens without batteries and vaping cartridges also will be taken. Needles, new or used, will not be accepted for disposal. This service is free and anonymous with no questions asked.

Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the United States are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.

Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines — flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash — pose both potential safety and health hazards.

The Indiana State Police will partner with the DEA, and unwanted medications may be dropped off at any Indiana State Police post, except the Toll Road Post, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.