HUNTINGTON — Before cold and flu season comes knocking, take a few minutes to clean out your medicine cabinets this weekend and dispose of any old, unused and unwanted prescription drugs on Saturday, National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.

The Drug Enforcement Administration will collect unwanted or expired prescription drugs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at various locations across the state and country. The collected pills will be incinerated.

The take-back is completely anonymous, and those dropping off medication are asked to remove any labels with identification from containers, or simply remove the medicine from the containers before dropping it off.

The last drug take-back day was in 2014. The reinstatement of the initiative came following a bipartisan push led by several lawmakers, including West Virginia Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito.

"Communities in West Virginia and across this nation are plagued by prescription drug abuse," Manchin said in a press release. "This important program helps curb prescription drug abuse in West Virginia by providing opportunities to safely dispose of medications and has been enormously successful."

During the first nine Prescription Drug Take-Back Days orchestrated by the DEA, people across the nation turned in 4.8 million pounds of expired or unneeded prescription drugs for safe disposal.

Michelle Perdue, project coordinator for the Cabell County Substance Abuse Prevention Partnership, said the take-back has more than one benefit.

"One is disposing of medication properly keeps it from ending up in our water source," she said. "It also keeps it from being abused or misused by those not prescribed to it."

Other locations for the take-back day can be found online at www.dea.gov.

The Huntington Police Department and the Milton Police Department have permanent drop-off boxes in their police stations.

Drop-off locations in Cabell County and surrounding areas:

  • Cabell County Sheriff's Department Field Office - 2726 Howells Mill Road, Ona
  • Ebenezer Medical Outreach/Douglass Center - 1448 10th Avenue, Huntington
  • Milton Pre-K School - 1302 U.S. 60, Milton
  • Milton Volunteer Fire Department - 341 East Main Street, Milton
  • United Way of the River Cities - 820 Madison Avenue, Huntington (across from the DMV)
  • West Virginia State Police Detachment - 3339 U.S. 60 East, Huntington
  • Kenova Volunteer Fire Department - 1600 Pine St., Kenova
  • Wayne Police Department - 1300 Norfolk Ave., Wayne