The Douglas County Partnership of Community Resources and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with local businesses, will be conducting a Prescription Drug Roundup this month.

The purpose of the roundup is to get unused and unwanted prescription medications out of medicine cabinets – where they can be stolen or abused – and safely dispose of them.

A majority of teens who abuse prescription medications secretly obtain them from medicine cabinets of friends or relatives.

Additionally, many people are unsure of how to dispose of old prescription medications, so they dump them down the sink or flush them down the toilet. These substances then end up in the water table, where they contaminate the water supply and the environment.

The Prescription Drug Roundup takes place:

Jan. 27 from 8am-12:30 pm at the Senior Health Fair – Carson Valley Inn;

Jan. 30 from 10am-2pm at Safeway, 212 Elks Point Road, Round Hill; Smith’s Supermarket, 1341 Highway 395, Gardnerville; Wal-Mart Supercenter, 3770 Topsy Lane, Carson City, TRE Volunteer Fire Station, 1476 Albite Road, Wellington; DCSO, 1281 Kimmerling Road, Gardnerville Ranchos.

Citizens can bring their unwanted or unused prescription medications to these locations and drop them off safely and confidentially, with no questions asked. Any identifying information on the pill bottle can be marked out.

Also available at the collection locations will be literature regarding the abuse of prescription medications, interaction dangers, suggestions on how to keep track of prescribed medications, and resources for additional help.