UALR police officers will be on hand at the UALR Department of Public Safety from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, to accept unused, unwanted, or expired pharmaceutical drugs and  prescription medications and dispose of them in a safe and ecologically sound way.

The UALR collection station is one of hundreds in Arkansas where residents can drop off old and unused medication to make sure it stays out of the hands of children and potential abusers.

It is the third National Take Back initiative aimed at keeping communities drug free and the environment clean.

“It’s quick and easy. Just drive up and drop off your medications, and you’ll be on your way,” said Sharon Bowles Houlette, public safety officer.

Law enforcement is the only entity legally authorized to receive scheduled substances from citizens. By turning over old medicine to the police, Take Back participants:

• Protect small children – in 2008 alone, there were over 100,000 trips to emergency rooms due to accidental ingestion of prescription drugs by children under age 5.
• Prevent dangerous prescription drugs from being abused or diverted.
• Ensure these drugs will never be stolen by young people from their parents’ and grandparents’ medicine cabinets.
• Prevent overdoses and deaths.
• Ensure pharmaceuticals don’t pollute local water supplies, streams, and lakes – water treatment systems can’t remove them when they are flushed.
• Help provide much-needed prescription abuse education and awareness to the public.
• Provide a great community service.