Drug Take Back Day Saturday, April 27

Sidney Police Department is one of many drop-off points for the 17th Annual National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.

The event is scheduled for 10 a.m. To 2 p.m. Saturday.

According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, America loses more than 70,000 people every year to drug overdose deaths. In 2017, an estimated 3.2 million Americans age 12 and older reported misusing prescription pain relievers within the last 12 months, making prescription opioids the second most abused drug in the U.S. after marijuana.

“In Nebraska, 532 people died of opioid overdose between 2014 and 2017,” DEA Omaha Division Special Agent in Charge Richard Salater Jr., said. “These were mothers, fathers, children, friends and neighbors in our communities who didn’t need to die. National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is a way in which members of our communities can do their part to prevent the next overdose death by cleaning out their cabinets and those of their loved ones and getting rid of unused, unwanted and expired medications that have the potential for abuse.”

The program is in its ninth year and has collected nearly 11 million pounds of medications since the first national event in 2010.