Abuse of prescription drugs can lead to other problems, including the use of opioids.
The 19th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday aims to stop the problem.
Prescription drugs will be collected at several locations with COVID-19 safety guidelines are in place.
Last year, 883,000 pounds were collected at 6,300 locations nationwide.
A year ago in Montana, 1,720 pounds were collected in Montana.
The Drug Enforcement Administration runs the program, holding take-back days twice a year.
"It's been such a successful program to combat what's been a real scourge across the country," said Kurt Alme, U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana. "We all know that opioid overdose deaths have become a real problem this decade. For this last year, we had almost 75,000 overdose deaths in the United States, so anything that we can do to try to keep people from getting hooked on opioids is going to save lives."
You may bring your unused prescription drugs to the Elks Lodge Parking Lot from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The DEA has a list of locations for take-back day on its website.
Alme said if there is no place close on the list, local police and sheriff's offices will also collect prescription drugs.
The U.S. Department of Justice website has a list of locations available all year.
The U.S. Attorney's Office also has references on the U.S. Food & Drug Administration website for properly disposing prescription drugs.
