Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Albert Lea Police Department encourages residents to bring their unwanted medications to a collection program from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday in the Walmart parking lot, 1550 Blake Ave.

The disposal is free of charge and confidential. Any medication may be dropped off, but no sharps will be taken. The police will take all medications collected to an incinerator for final disposal, according to a press release.

“Prescription painkillers can be helpful and beneficial for treating pain when properly prescribed by a licensed professional, used as prescribed, and stored and disposed of safely. But they are highly addictive and susceptible to misuse and abuse. If used, stored or disposed of unsafely, they can be dangerous and sometimes deadly,” according to the Dose of Reality program supported in part by the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General.

Cleaning pain-killers and other drugs out of medicine cabinets makes them less available for youth and others to abuse.

Flushing medications down the toilet or drain can contaminate lakes and streams, which can hurt fish and other aquatic wildlife. That’s because many wastewater treatment plants are not designed to remove medications, which pass through in the discharge to a lake or stream.

Tossing medications in the trash can lead to abusers digging through garbage for drugs. If buried in landfills, the medications can contaminate the soil or groundwater.