Saturday marks DEA's next Drug Take Back Day

WASHINGTON — The public is getting another opportunity Saturday to rid home medicine cabinets of unused, potentially dangerous medications.

Nearly 1.6 million pounds of prescription drugs have been turned in over the past two years under the Drug Enforcement Administration's Take Back Day program.

Saturday will be the fifth take-back day. DEA and 4,300 local law enforcement partners are setting up 7,500 disposal sites, which will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time.

Participants can find the nearest site by visiting www.dea.gov , clicking on "Drug Disposal" and "Got Drugs?", and following the links to a database and entering their ZIP codes. The service is free and anonymous.

DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart says the program helps prevent addiction, overdose deaths and diversion of drugs to criminals.