You probably don’t give much thought to the unused medications taking up space in your medicine cabinet. But those leftover pills are far from harmless.

Taking them incorrectly or accidentally could land someone in the emergency room or even prove deadly. Of particular concern are leftover narcotic painkillers such as Oxycontin, Percocet, and Vicodin.

Here are several ways to safely get rid of unwanted and expired medication year-round.

Return it to a pharmacy

Many drugstores, hospitals, clinics, narcotic treatment programs, and long-term-care centers will take leftover and expired medication any time of the year. Some locations might also offer mail-back programs.

To find an authorized program near you, go to DisposeMyMeds.org or DEAdiversion.usdoj.gov and search for “drug disposal.’’ Or call the DEA’s Registration Call Center at 800-882-9539.

Walgreens has made this especially convenient by offering self-service kiosks, which the chain introduced earlier this year.

The kiosks are free, anonymous, and secure: Simply place unwanted and expired medication — including controlled substances — in the top slot and walk away.

Dispose of it at home

If your pharmacy won’t accept your medication and drop-off at an authorized location is not an option, you can toss most pills in your household trash (with the exception of narcotic painkillers), provided you take a few precautions.

First, remove the drug from its original container and mix it with a substance that makes it less recognizable, such as coffee grounds, kitty litter, or sawdust. Then place the mixture in a sealable plastic bag or other container that won’t leak and put it in the trash. As an added precaution, before you discard the prescription bottle, remove the label entirely or scratch away the personal information.

Take precautions

Recent data suggest that, when it comes to addressing accidental or intentional misuse, there’s a lot of work to do. In a survey of people who were recently prescribed opioids, published in JAMA Internal Medicine in June, 60 percent of respondents reported holding on to the drugs for future use. Almost half said they weren’t aware of how to properly store or dispose of opioids.

Leftover prescription painkillers can be fatal if ingested by someone in your home, including children, so they shouldn’t be tossed in the trash, Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman Lyndsay Meyer says.

For example, Meyer said, “Too much fentanyl can cause severe breathing problems and lead to death in babies, children, pets, and even adults, especially those who have not been prescribed the medicine.’’

The best way to handle leftover narcotic painkillers, such as fentanyl, hydrocodone (Vicodin and generic), meperidine (Demerol and generic), morphine, or oxycodone (Oxycontin, Percocet, and generic), is to take them to a pharmacy or authorized take-back location.

But if you can’t get there, leftovers of those and other controlled substances listed on the FDA’s website can be flushed down the sink or toilet, Meyer says.