The Demopolis Police Department will participate in the National Take Back Initiative Saturday with the hopes of getting un-needed prescription drugs off the streets.

In conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the DPD will collect old prescriptions at Walmart Saturday, Oct. 29 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Demopolis Police Chief Tommie Reese said anyone needing to dispose of any prescription medications was free to stop by the DPD’s mobile command unit, “no questions asked.”

“Just walk up, drop off the pills and walk away,” Reese said.

This will be the first year Demopolis has participated in the event but Linden has participated for the last several years.

“They’ve had a lot of success with it,” Reese said.

Medicines collected will be turned over to the DEA who will destroy them.

Reese said he hopes that citizens will use the Take Back initiative as an opportunity to safely dispose of any out-of-date or no longer needed prescriptions.

The aim of the program is to keep prescribed medications out of the hands of children, as well as keeping illicit drugs off the streets.

“If you don’t need (the medication) any more, it’s of no use to you,” Reese said. “It keeps a kid from getting into them, it keeps somebody from accidentally taking the wrong medication…it’s just safer to have expired medicines out of the home.”