Staff Reports

The Drug Enforcement Administration is sponsoring the 22nd nationwide Prescription Drug Take Back initiative on 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.

Once again, the Indiana State Police is partnering with the DEA, and unwanted medications may be dropped off at any post, except the Lowell and Toll Road posts, from 10 to 2 p.m. Saturday. That includes the Versailles Post at 902 S. Adams St., Versailles.

To find other locations in Indiana or across the country that are participating in the initiative, visit dea.gov/takebackday.

Th initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. 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.

In addition, Americans are now advised 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 Drug Take Back events are the safe, popular and responsible way for the public to legally dispose of prescription drugs with no questions asked.