It's so common. You have a few extra pills left over from a prescription and keep them on hand “just in case” you need them again.

While it may seem practical, it can be extremely dangerous.

Leftover medications, especially opioid painkillers, are an easy target for abuse. The majority of teens abusing prescription drugs get them from family and friends — often right out of the home medicine cabinet.

In fact, ordinary expired or unused prescriptions you may have at home are helping fuel an epidemic that kills nearly 80 Americans a day.

How do you get rid of these medications safely? Start by calling your police department or pharmacy — many are licensed collectors authorized to receive and dispose of these medications safely.

In fact, there's no better time to start than this weekend. This Saturday is the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.

Law enforcement agencies throughout Illinois are hosting special medication disposal events.

If you don't have time to make a call, just type “DEA drug take back” into your web browser to pull up a page that allows you to search for participating agencies.

Illinois is the nation's fourth largest collector of unused medications with 24 tons of unwanted medicines collected at the last DEA Take-Back event alone.

Look out Texas, California and Wisconsin — let's see if we can finish at No. 1!

Dr. Thomas M. Anderson, president of Illinois State Medical Society

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