Citizens looking to dispose of excess and expired prescription and over-the-counter medications can now visit the safe and secure permanent drop off location at Kentucky State Police, Post 15 located at 1118 Jamestown Street in Columbia, KY.

Communicare REG has partnered with Post 15 to establish a permanent MedReturn drug collection program in order to reduce the supply of drugs that can potentially harm teens and adults.

According to the 2011 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), more than six million Americans abuse prescription drugs. Among youth who are 12 to 17 years old, 7.4 percent report past year non-medical use of prescription drugs.

Properly disposing of excess drugs is everyone’s responsibility as a matter of public safety. More than 70 percent of young people abusing prescription pain relievers get them through friends or family, a statistic that includes raiding the family medicine cabinet. Now, the Post 15 community, Washington, Marion, Taylor, Green, Casey, Russell, Adair, Metcalfe, Monroe, Clinton and Cumberland County citizens won’t have to wait for a specific take-back day to clean out their medicine cabinets.

The collection site is open seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Drugs can be dropped off with no questions asked. All medications should have labels of identification removed.