Who knows what evil lurks here if it's not properly disposed of?

POTTSTOWN PA – For the fourth time in two years, residents in Pottstown, Sanatoga, Gilbertsville, and neighboring municipalities will again have an opportunity to rid themselves – for free – of old, outdated, unwanted, or no-longer-used prescription medications that pose both a hazard and a temptation for young family members, and which should not be simply discarded.

Area law enforcement agencies are repeating their participation in the “National Take-Back Day” to collect prescription drugs, scheduled for April 28 (2012; Saturday) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. All collection sites for National Take-Back Day can be used by any member of the public, no matter where they live.

Municipalities participating in the April 28 event, and their collection sites and agencies, are:

• Pottstown – Giant Markets, 86 Glocker Way (North Coventry Township Police);
• Sanatoga – Sanatoga Fire Company, 2222 E. High St. (Lower Pottsgrove Police Department);
• Gilbertsville – Giant Markets, 173 Holly Rd. (Douglass Township Police);
• Spring City – CVS Pharmacy, 3425 Schuylkill Rd. (East Vincent Township Police);
• Phoenixville – Borough Hall, 140 Church St. (Phoenixville Borough Police);
• Schwenksville – Troopers’ Skippack Barracks, 2047-C Bridge Rd. (Pennsylvania State Police);
• Zieglerville – Lower Frederick Township Police, 53 Spring Mount Rd.; and
• Oaks – Upper Providence Township Police, 286 Black Rock Rd.

Millions of Americans, many of them age 18 and younger, currently abuse prescription drugs, according to federal studies. Research conducted for the Partnership for a Drug Free America shows that each day about 2,500 teens use prescription drugs to get high for the first time.

Studies also conclude that a portion of abused prescription drugs are obtained from home medicine cabinets. That makes family prescription drug abuse a national, and local, problem.

National Take Back Day was created during 2010 by the U.S. Department of Justice to provide a way to dispose of unwanted or unused medications. The first effort, held in September 2010, was deemed a huge success. About 3,000 state and local law enforcement agencies participated nationwide.

During the April 2011 event, more than a half-ton of unused medicines were collected across Chester and Montgomery counties. They represented about 12.5 percent of Pennsylvania’s entire collected total, according to Casey Jones, an advocate with the Transformation Initiative for Building Healthy Communities Through Healthy Families.

Jones’ organization has offered to help promote the events by providing free letter-sized posters, handbills and church bulletin inserts that highlight drop-off locations for Pottstown, Phoenixville, West Chester, Downingtown, southern and western Chester County, and eastern Lancaster County. Get them by sending an e-mail to Jones, here, and specify the geographic areas desired.