Clean Out Those Medicine Cabinets: DEA Drug 'Take Back' Day is Saturday

Residents from Murrieta and throughout the county who want to get rid of potentially dangerous prescription drugs are welcome to discard them Saturday as part of National Drug Take-Back Day.

The effort led by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is aimed at taking commonly abused drugs out of circulation.

"This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue," according to the DEA. "Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends.

Flushing drugs down the toilet is frowned upon.

According to the DEA, during April's Drug Take-Back campaign, Americans discarded 742,497 pounds of prescription drugs at 10,141 locations around the country.

During the 2012 "Take Back," Riverside County residents disposed of 2,124 pounds of unwanted and outdated prescription drugs, according to a news release from the sheriff's department. 

In April, between the Murrieta Police Department and Southwest Sheriff's Station alone, 239 pounds of the drugs were collected.

Riverside County residents are being asked to drop off unwanted pills at the following sites between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday:

-- Murrieta Police Department, 2 Town Square;

-- sheriff's Southwest station, 30755 Auld Road, Murrieta;

-- Desert Hot Springs Police Department, 65950 Pierson Blvd.;

-- Home Instead Senior Care Center, 414 S. Palm St., Hemet

-- Kaiser Permanente Hospital-Riverside, parking lot, 10800 Magnolia Ave.;

-- sheriff's Cabazon station, 50290 Main St.;

-- sheriff's Hemet station, 43950 Acacia Ave.;

-- sheriff's Jurupa Valley station, 7477 Mission Blvd.;

-- sheriff's Lake Elsinore station, 333 Limited Ave.;

-- sheriff's Moreno Valley station, 22850 Calle San Juan De Los Lagos;

-- sheriff's Palm Desert station, 73705 Gerald Ford Drive;

-- sheriff's Perris station, 137 N. Perris Blvd.; and

-- sheriff's Thermal Station, 86625 Airport Blvd.

No questions will be asked of people disposing of pills or other medications, according to organizers. More information is available at http://www.dea.gov.

—City News Service and Maggie Avants contributed to this report.