LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas — Saturday is one of the best chances to help prevent drug abuse and addiction.
Police departments across the state will be collecting old and unwanted medications for Arkansas Drug Take Back Day.
From someone who is in long-term recovery... Kyle Brewer said these days are so important.
Brewer had wisdom teeth surgery when he was younger and they gave him a prescription of oxycodone, later becoming addicted and going down a dark path to heroin and other drugs.
"It really destroyed every aspect of my life," said Brewer.
He is now in long-term recovery and works to help others who have a substance-use disorder. He wants to make sure those drugs don't do harm to others.
"Unused medications - if they are just on the counter and they're just sitting around they could fall into the wrong hands," said Brewer. "Someone could take them and become dependent on the drugs, but also someone could take them and not necessarily know what they are."
There will be 300 collection sites around the state on Saturday where people can safely dispose of expired or unneeded medications.
"A lot of times people will flush these drugs down the drain or put them in the trash and [they] end up in our water table eventually in the ground," said Lt. Cody Burk with the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office.
If you miss Drug Take Back Day, you can still dispose of your drugs.
Police departments across Arkansas have collection sites where you can drop of those medications any given time. Here is a map of those collection sites.
The drugs you dispose at a collection site will be taken to an incinerator where they will be destroyed safely.