Hundreds of people die each day from drug overdoses around the country.
This Saturday is National Take Back Day, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency is trying to bring that number down by getting people to turn in their unused medications.
Close to half of all people who develop drug addictions start by taking medicine from a friend or family member, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“There’s a lot of people that have expired medication or medication that they no longer use in their medicine cabinet,” sad Region Six Director for DHHS Fred Schuster.
“Someone else might use it for bad things. It’s very sobering that so many people have died because of this,” he said.
Anyone with medication they aren’t using anymore or that is expired can bring it to participating pharmacies who’ll have Take Back Day collection boxes.
People in the U.S. turned in 460 tons of prescription drugs last fall, according to the DEA. There will be another Take Back Day later this year, and some pharmacies will always accept leftover medication.