Saturday marks the Drug Enforcement Administration's 28th national prescription Drug Take Back Day in Minnesota.
Minnesotans are encouraged to clean out those medicine cabinets and take unneeded medications from their homes to one of the collection sites as part of the DEA's national prescription drug Take Back Day.
"We know that about 53% of people that are 12 or older," says DEA public information officer Emily Murray. "And they got their prescription medication from and they're using it illegally from a friend or a relative. You know, they found it in a medicine cabinet and they started using it."
Murray says drug takeback days are a great way for households to start an important conversation.
"We want people to have these conversations that there are dangers that can come from prescription misuse, and we're hopeful that families will sit down and have those conversations together," she says.
Minnesotans last year disposed of nearly 29,000 pounds of unneeded medications through takeback days.
Murray says drop off sites will accept any prescription medication but there are exceptions.
"The only thing we cannot take are sharps, so no syringes, things like that," Murray explains. "But if you have cough medicine that was prescribed to you that you're no longer using, absolutely put the cap back on, seal it up tight, throw it in a ziplock bag and throw that in there."
All of the drop off locations accept those prescription medications anonymously as well.
"You know, we have a variety of people," she says. "We have some people who come in and will get rid of all of the medications that their parent maybe used when they were going through cancer treatments. But then we also have people who don't feel as comfortable just laying their medication out there. So they'll put it in a brown paper bag, and again, no questions are asked."
Drug Take Back Day takes place Saturday, April 26, between 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. You can find your nearest drop off site here. There are numerous sites all across the Twin Cities metro area, western Wisconsin and in most counties across the state.