This Saturday ( Sept. 27 ) the Junction City Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration willgive the public its ninth opportunity in four years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.

You can bring your pills for disposal to the Junction City Police Department lobby at 210 East 9th Street. ( The DEA cannot accept liquids, needles, or sharps, only pills or patches ). The service is free and anonymous with no questions asked.

This initiative addresses a public safety and health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to those drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines — flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash — both pose potential safety and health hazards.