Last month more than 6 million Americans abused prescription drugs—more than the number of those abusing cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens and inhalants combined, according to statistics from the Drug Enforcement Agency.
Virgin Islanders will get the chance Saturday to reverse that trend by taking part in the first nationwide "Prescription Drug Take-Back Day," an event sponsored by the federal DEA.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, people with old, expired prescription drugs or any other pharmaceuticals no longer needed can turn them in, no questions asked, according to Timothy Williams, resident agent in charge of the DEA’s St. Croix office.

On St. Croix, residents can take their old pharmaceuticals to any of the island’s four post offices. A depository will be set up in the parking lot, Williams said, so as not to interfere with the Post Office’s duties.

On St. Thomas, people can take their old medicines to Fort Christian.

Residents dropping off old prescriptions will not have to talk to anyone, although they can ask questions of the personnel manning the drop-offs.

According to DEA officials, prescription drugs abuse is rising in part because it’s easy to get access to other people’s medicine cabinets. Studies show that the majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from friends and family members.

Old unused medications sitting on the bathroom shelf can become a target for teens. And once a medication has expired, it might not only be ineffective for the condition for which it was prescribed, it might actually harm the person taking it, Williams said.

Williams added that old medicines are not something that should be just discarded with the trash or flushed down the toilet. They can get into the water supply, causing trouble for the environment. Also, he noted, some people root through the trash looking for old meds, which they either take themselves or try to sell on the street. The DEA program is an effort to get these drugs safely out of circulation, he said.

A pilot run of the program was tried last year in New Jersey, and organizers were stunned when residents turned in more than 9,000 pounds of old drugs in a single day.

"So clear out your medicine cabinet, your night table drawer, anywhere," Williams said.