MOLINE, Illinois-- April 28th is National Take Back Day is a day for people to drop off any unused prescription pills to local disposing sites.
Across the country police are taking part, including The C.A.U.S.E. (Coalition Advocating Underage Substance Elimination), the Rock Island County Sheriff’s Department, Milan Police Department, Silvis Police Department, Moline Police Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
On Saturday from 10 a.m to 2 p.m. they set up drop off sites for people to take their unwanted or expired prescription drugs, no questions asked. Last year almost 100- thousand pounds of pills were collected nationwide.
"The whole goal here is to properly dispose of it. It's not good to be flushing it down the toilet or anything like that. The other thing reason why we do this is we don't want it to get in the wrong hands," said Patrick Moody, Moline Officer.
According to a DEA National Survey on Drug Use, more than 6 million Americans abused controlled prescription drugs. The study showed majority of abused prescription drugs were taken from medicine cabinets of family and friends.