In lots of homes throughout Fort Dodge, there are bottles of unused pills taking up space in drawers and cupboards. Perhaps they are there because no one knows what to do with them.

A special event on Saturday will solve that dilemma for area residents.

For the 18th time, the Webster County Sheriff’s Department, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and Daniel Pharmacy will team up to collect unwanted and unneeded prescription drugs. Between 10 a.m. and noon, people can go to the pharmacy at 1114 Central Ave. and drop off the medicines.

A similar event was held this spring.

In addition to all kinds of medicines, e-cigarettes and vaping devices will be accepted if the batteries are removed.

The program safely disposes of prescription medicines before they end up in the hands of curious children or people who want to sell them illegally. Webster County Sheriff Jim Stubbs has described the takeback system as an important public service to continually keep certain prescriptions that tend to be misused or abused off the streets.

The semi-annual drug takeback also provides the proper and safe way to get rid of the unused pills. Tossing them in the trash creates a chance for someone to get them later. And flushing the pills down the toilet can create longterm environmental and public health concerns.

Stubbs has observed that the amount of drugs collected at the event decreased a bit last year. That may not be the sign of a negative trend, however, because Daniel Pharmacy and at least two other businesses in Fort Dodge have big locked boxes in which people can deposit unused medicines all year.

We urge everyone to use the proper method to get rid of unused prescription drugs. It’s easy to do that: just go to Saturday’s takeback event or drop them in one of the locked collection boxes.