CASS COUNTY — Cass County residents will have yet another chance to clean out their medicine cabinets this weekend, as several local law enforcement agencies will team up with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency for its latest National Prescription Drug Take Back Day Saturday.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., several sites across Cass County will be accepting unused or unwanted prescription drugs from local residents, which will be taken and transported to a state facility for safe disposal. The following locations will have temporary drop boxes available in the morning and afternoon:

• Silver Creek Township Hall, 32764 Dixon St., Dowagiac

• Howard Township Hall, 1345 Barron Lake Road, Niles

• Marcellus Township Hall, 13163 Marcellus Highway, Marcellus

In addition, the county’s permanent Red Med Boxes will be open during the take back day. These sites include:

• Ontwa/Edwardsburg Police Department, 26296 U.S. Highway 12, Edwardsburg

• Pokagon Tribal Health Center, 58620 Sink Road, Dowagiac

• Dowagiac Police Department, 241 S. Front St., Dowagiac

• Family Fare Supermarket, 56151 M-51, Dowagiac

• Niles Michigan State Police post, 1600 Silverbrook Ave., Niles

• Cass County Sheriff’s Office, 321 M-62, Cassopolis

Residents are welcome to dispose of any prescription, over-the-counter or other type of medication. Sharps or syringes will not be accepted.

Saturday marks the second National Prescription Drug Take Back Day that has been organized this year, with the last one taking place in April. Several county agencies are again working with the DEA for the drug take back day, including several law enforcement agencies and Cassopolis’ Woodlands Behavioral Healthcare Network.

“It’s a good reminder for people to clean out their medicine cabinets,” said E.J. McAndrew, prevention coordinator with Woodlands, about the drug take back day. “It gives people the chance to get rid of their old medication safely and know that they will be disposed of in a safe, nontoxic manner. And it’s free.”

Woodlands has worked with the DEA on the prescription drug take back days for nearly 10 years, McAndrew said.

For her and other Cass County officials, supporting the take back day is yet another way to keep potentially dangerous drugs out of landfills or sewer systems — chemicals from the substances may seep into water supplies should they not be properly disposed of — as well as out of the hands of those who do not need them.

“Unused and unwanted medication, just sitting inside your household, is a formula for abuse or for an accident,” McAndrew said.

McAndrew knows all too well the problems caused by misuse of prescription drugs. As head of the C.A.S.S. (Cass Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Safety Solutions) Coalition, a local anti-drug task force, McAndrew has seen how over-prescription of medications can lead to drug addiction and other issues.

Oftentimes, people’s addictions begin after stealing medication from of their family and friends, who often leave pill bottles inside their cabinets after their illnesses or pain problems subside, or after the person using the drug dies, such as in the case of cancer patients, McAndrew said. Those who abuse prescription drugs often begin buying pain killers from street level dealers, or even stealing pills from strangers’ homes. In some cases, they become addicted to illegal substances like heroin, which is cheaper and more potent — and deadly — than prescription pills.

In fact, the misuse of the prescription drugs is one of the main factors fueling the current opioid drug crisis that has gripped the country in recent years, McAndrew said.

Last year, data shows that Cass County households had an average of 124 opioid pills — a number that could be even higher, as the figure only includes pills prescribed to residents from Michigan physicians.

Over the years, the C.A.S.S. Coalition and other area agencies have worked to combat the issue by installing several year-round medication drug boxes at several sites across Cass County. Thanks in part to the ongoing collection efforts, in conjunction with dedicated DEA take back days, in this past fiscal year alone county residents have turned over more than 550 pounds of pills and other medication for safe disposal.

McAndrew encourages everyone to take the chance Saturday to give their cabinets another cleaning and participate in the take back day.

“It’s a great way to keep the community safe and to help address the opioid crisis,” she said.