JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Have expired medicine? Saturday, you can safely and easily throw it out and perhaps save a life.
"This simple act can help prevent medication abuse and help curb the opioid epidemic in our city," Mayor Lenny Curry said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Curry and several other agencies, including JFRD, announced four locations to drop off expired pills Saturday as part of DEA Drug Take Back Day.
"It's time to stop hoarding unused, unneeded and expired medicine," Curry added.
Drug Take Back Day can be vital in saving even a teenager's life.
Jacksonville Fire and Rescue says first responders were called to 5,000 overdoses last year, 324 of them involving teens 19 and under.
Fire Chief Keith Powers also shared that one in every five high school student is using drugs not prescribed to them.
"When you look around here for those that have high school age students you got to think that somebody's child is using these drugs and that's why this DEA take back is so important, to get those drugs out of the cabinets disposed of properly, so they're not readily available for these teenagers to get into," Powers said.
The four drop-off locations are the Avenues Mall, UF Health North Campus near the airport, Mayo Clinic, and Jacksonville Beach Police Department. Drop-off is scheduled for 10 to 2 p.m.
You can also go to a few locations outside of Jacksonville.
The Orange Park Hospital and St. Augustine Police Department are also accepting expired prescription pills.