The Black Diamond Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will collect unwanted prescription drugs from the public from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sept. 29.

Bring your medications for disposal to the Black Diamond Police Department at 25510 Lawson Street, Black Diamond, WA.

The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Last April, Americans turned in 552,161 pounds—276 tons—of prescription drugs at over 5,600 sites operated by the DEA and nearly 4,300 state and local law enforcement partners.

In its four previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners took in over 1.5 million pounds—nearly 775 tons—of pills.

In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety and health hazards.

Four days after the first event, Congress passed the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010, which amends the Controlled Substances Act to allow an “ultimate user” of controlled substance medications to dispose of them by delivering them to entities authorized by the Attorney General to accept them.

The Act also allows the Attorney General to authorize long term care facilities to dispose of their residents’ controlled substances in certain instances. DEA is drafting regulations to implement the Act.

Until new regulations are in place, local law enforcement agencies like the Black Diamond Police Department and the DEA will continue to hold prescription drug take-back events every few months.