Most of us have one: a cabinet, a drawer, or a shoebox holding prescription bottles from a surgery, a rough winter, or a medication someone stopped taking. Keeping them feels harmless, but unused medicine is a leading source of accidental poisoning in kids and a temptation for anyone who shouldn’t be taking it.

The safest option for most medicines is taking them to an authorized take-back location or using a prepaid mail-back envelope. If you have to throw them in the trash, mix the pills with coffee grounds, dirt, or cat litter so they’re less appealing, and never crush tablets or capsules. Flushing is only for drugs on the FDA Flush List, and only when a take-back option isn’t available. Before any bottle goes in the trash, black out your name and prescription details.

If you’ve been putting this off, put it on the calendar. National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is Saturday, October 24, and drop-off sites across the area will be ready to take unused medication off your hands. Whether you’re in Waxahachie, Midlothian, Red Oak, or anywhere else in Ellis County, a quick call to your pharmacy or local law enforcement office will point you to the nearest drop-off.

When’s the last time you actually went through your medicine cabinet?