Bring Unused Drugs To Gwinnett Police On Saturday

BERKELEY LAKE, GA — If you have drugs in your home that you're not using, the Gwinnett County Police Department wants to take them off of your hands — and get them off of the streets.

Saturday is National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Sponsored by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the special days are designed to help deter prescription drug abuse.

According to the DEA, a majority of abused prescription drugs were gotten from family and friends, often taken from home medicine cabinets.

In Gwinnett County, police will be set up from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Berkeley Lake City Hall to take back your unwanted prescription drugs. The city hall is located at 4040 S. Berkeley Lake Rd. NW.

Police also will have car seat technicians available to check your children's car seats and make sure they're installed properly.

The DEA's last Prescription Drug Take Back Day, in April, set a new record, bringing in more than 900,000 pounds of drugs. It was the 13th take back day since the event was started in 2010 and, in all, the events have collected more than 8.1 million pounds of prescription drugs.

According to a 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 6.4 million Americans abused controlled prescription drugs.

"Too often, unused prescription drugs find their way into the wrong hands," acting DEA Administrator Chuck Rosenberg said after the April event. "That's dangerous and often tragic."

To visit a collection site between Take Back Days, go here or here.

Photo courtesy U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration