The National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is a joint effort between law enforcement and pharmacies to get any unused or expired drugs out of homes. The DEA’s Take Back Day events provide an opportunity for Americans to prevent drug addiction and overdose deaths in their communities.

According to the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 6 million Americans misused controlled prescription drugs. The study also showed a majority of abused prescription drugs were obtained from family and friends, often from the home medicine cabinet.

Daphne Greenlee with Safe Kids Springfield explained this is a great opportunity for people to protect their kids and help put a stop to the opioid epidemic. "When we do these take back events we're focusing not only on just the poison prevention side of it, but we're really focusing on the opioid prevention side of it as well," said Greenlee. "To get those medications out of reach of people who don't really need to be touching those."

Greenlee added there is no reason to keep unused or expired medications around. "Anytime you have someone in your home they're in the restroom and you can always access medication cabinets and things like that, so we just want to make sure our medications are put away and not accessible to anyone," she said.

The six Springfield locations participating in the drug take back event are listed below. Take Back Day events will be held Saturday, April 27 from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.

Alps - 2650 W. Kearney St.

George's Pharmacy - 3650 E. Sunshine St.

Medicine Store - 1302 E. Sunshine St.

Mercy Smith Glynn Callaway - 3231 S. National Ave.

Walgreens - 2681 W. Republic Rd.

Lawrence Drug - 1454 E. Republic Rd.

Those interested in other areas can use the DEA take back day locator with the link provided in this story.