The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration will give the public an opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs on Saturday, Oct. 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Bring pills for disposal to Fountain Hills Town Hall at 16705 Avenue of the Fountains. Items to be disposed of should be taken inside the Town Hall lobby off the south parking lot.

The DEA cannot accept liquids or needles or sharps, only pills or patches. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Americans turned in prescription drugs at more than 4,100 sites operated by the DEA and its thousands of state and local law enforcement partners.

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.

On an ongoing basis, the Sheriff’s Office Fountain Hills substation has a prescription drug collection bin just outside the MCSO office in the first floor lobby at Town Hall. Unused prescription drugs may be left at that location at any time the building is open.