On Saturday, Sept. 29, the Three Lakes Police Department, the Rhinelander Police Department, the Minocqua Police Department and the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), will give the public another opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.

Bring your medications for disposal to one of the following sites:

• Rhinelander Police Department, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

• Three Lakes Town Hall, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

• Nokomis Fire Department, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Minocqua Police Department will also be sponsoring a collection site at the Marshfield Clinic Pharmacy from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The service is free and anonymous; no questions asked. Injectables and syringes cannot be accepted, though.

This is the fifth National Take Back Initiative. Last April, Americans turned in 552,161 pounds-276 tons-of prescription drugs at over 5,600 sites operated by the DEA and nearly 4,300 state and local law enforcement partners. In its four previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners took in over 1.5 million pounds-nearly 775 tons-of pills.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines-flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash-both pose potential safety and health hazards.

Four days after the first event, Congress passed the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010, which amends the Controlled Substances Act to allow an “ultimate user” of controlled substance medications to dispose of them by delivering them to entities authorized by the Attorney General to accept them. The Act also allows the Attorney General to authorize long term care facilities to dispose of their residents’ controlled substances in certain instances. DEA is drafting regulations to implement the Act. Until new regulations are in place, local law enforcement agencies and the DEA will continue to hold prescription drug take-back events every few months.

For more information, call Officer Herrmann at the Minocqua Police Department, Detective Sergeant Smoczyk at the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office, Detective Pudlowski at the Rhinelander Police Department or Chief Lea at the Three Lakes Police Department.