By Sonia Khosla

National Drug Take Back Day is a biannual event coordinated by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Local organizations, including most area police departments and the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office along with most Johnson County pharmacies, set up collection sites for residents of all ages to safely dispose of unwanted, unused or expired prescription medications.

The next Take Back Day will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, marking the 13th year of the event which originates back to Sept. 25, 2010. On that date, Congress amended the Controlled Substances Act allowing the DEA to develop a permanent process for people to dispose of their prescription drugs safely and conveniently.

National Drug Take Back Day collection sites for dropping prescription drugs are listed at DEATakeBack.com.

Teens and youth who experiment with prescription drugs often obtain them from family members or friends’ family members without consent. We must keep our medications safe to reduce the risk of addiction, overdose and suicide in our community.

You can keep your medications safe by checking your medicine cabinet regularly for any unwanted, unused or expired medications and taking action.

Regularly used medications should be secured in a medication lock box so they cannot be accessed by others. Unwanted or expired medication should be placed in a medication deactivation pouch for safe disposal. The pouch comes with simple instructions that can rid any home of leftover prescription drugs in less than three minutes.

Medication lock boxes and deactivation pouches are tools available to prevent prescription drugs from being used in unintended ways and can be ordered from the Johnson County Suicide Prevention Coalition by calling 913-715-7880 during business hours. They can also be ordered at jocogov.org/spcmaterials.

Increasing the time and distance between a person in a suicidal crisis and their access to lethal means, like prescription medication, can save lives.

Sonia Khosla is communications specialist at the Johnson County Mental Health Center.