Polk County offers three drop-off sites for Saturday's national Prescription Drug Take-Back Day

Saturday, Polk County residents will be able to discard expired, unused and unwanted medications at three law enforcement sites.

The service is “free, anonymous and with no questions asked,” according to a news release by the Crookston and East Grand Forks police departments and the Polk County sheriff’s office.

The Polk County drop-off sites for national Prescription Drug Take-Back Day are the sheriff’s office sub-station at 220 First St. in Fosston, the Crookston Police Department at 321 W. Robert St., and the East Grand Forks Police Department at 520 Demers Ave..

The hours for the drop are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The drop-off sites give the public the chance to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous prescription drugs.

Last September, Americans turned in 242,000 pounds of prescription drugs at about 4,000 sites operated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and more than 3,000 state and local law enforcement agencies.

Medicines that languish in home cabinets are susceptible to theft, misuse and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the United States 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 home medicine cabinets.

Common methods for disposing of unused medicines — such as flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash — pose potential safety and health hazards.

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