Schuylkill County is participating in the sixth National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on Saturday.
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., designated locations in the county will accept expired, unwanted and unused prescription medication with no questions asked.
"It's a good thing overall for everybody," Schuylkill County Sheriff Joseph Groody said last week about the initiative.
The take-back is headed by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. Locally, the event is coordinated by the Schuylkill County Sheriff's Office, District Attorney's Office, The Tide Task Force, the Pottsville Area School District's Drug and Alcohol Coalition and other local entities to collect the drugs.
The goal of the event is to "provide a safe, convenient and responsible means of disposal, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of these medications," according to a news release from the DEA.
The Center for Disease Control said prescription drug abuse is the fastest growing problem in the nation.
Groody said there is a problem with prescription drug use in the country and this can help. He also said small children might get a hold of the medication.
Pottsville police Capt. Steve Durkin said "a lot of prescription drug abuse in the home medicine cabinet." Durkin is on the board of directors of The Tide Task Force.
All medication will be collected and stored at a disclosed location until a DEA agent gets it the next day, Groody said.
The following items are not accepted: glass containers, intravenous solutions, injectables, syringes and illegal substances, according to a press release from the Schuylkill County Sheriff's Office and the District Attorney's Office.
Visit www.psp.state.pa.us and click on "public services" to find a drop-off location. Locally, medication can be taken to the state police barracks in Schuylkill Haven, 23 Meadowbrook Drive, and Frackville, 31 Eleanor Ave.
During its five previous Take-Back Days, more than 2 million pounds of prescription medication was collected, according to the DEA.
Last year, 244 tons of prescription medication were taken out of circulation because of the annual event, according to the DEA.