Saturday, April 27 is National Prescription Drug Take Back Day across America, an event that began in the Garden State in 2009.

Between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., people can bring their old, unused prescription drugs to their local fire and police stations and municipal buildings for proper disposal.

Agent Timothy McMahon of the New Jersey Division of the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration, says collection sites will be located in every county.

"We're not just looking to take back prescription opioids ... we are taking all prescription medications," he said.

It is not recommended that people throw medicines in the garbage or flush them down a drain because addicts have been known to go through the trash and pharmaceutical chemicals end up in waterways.

McMahon said "it is still very important to secure them, to keep them locked up, not just to have them sitting on a shelf in the medicine cabinet," where relatives and visitors can access them.

He says removing this stuff also takes away the temptation from curious teens to try what they find.

"Do an inventory of what you have in your medicine cabinet," he said, and take anything you're no using to a safe-disposal site. A list of locations is here. 

Last year, during the two National Take Back Day events in April and October, a total of 27,568 pounds of prescription medicines were collected. About 236,000 pounds have been collected in the program's 10 years in New Jersey.

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