Special to Iredell Free News

The Statesville Police Department will hold a free Drug Take Back event on Saturday, October 24, in conjunction with National Drug Take Back Day.

This event will be held at the Walgreens Pharmacy, located at 951 Davie Avenue in Statesville, and will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The SPD will be set up in the parking lot for this drive-thru event. The public is invited to drop their unused, unwanted, and expired medications off as part of the National Drug Take Back Day, which is sponsored and promoted by the DEA.

These events provide an opportunity for Americans to prevent drug addiction and overdose deaths.

This event is a safe, convenient, and responsible way to dispose of unused or expired prescription drugs at locations in communities throughout the country. National Drug Take Back days began in the fall of 2010 and nearly 12.7 million pounds​ have been collected and destroyed.

In addition to drugs, the SPD will be collecting syringes, needles, and other sharps for disposal. These sharps and needle collections are being offered to the public as part of our Syringe Safe Iredell initiative which began recently.