This year’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is set for September 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. nationwide. The DEA-sponsored program has collected hundreds of pounds of leftover medications from Alaskans alone since the program’s premier in 2010.

“By 2014, we were collecting between 800 and 1,000 pounds a year,” says Jim Penor, Solid Waste Coordinator for Juneau Borough. However in 2014, the DEA declared that funding for the popular program would be cut.

“We didn’t like that,” Penor says. “The program was doing so well that we decided to start our own program instead.”

Rather than the two annual collections, Juneau set up their own collection bins at their local police station, where citizens were able to bring their leftover medications any day of the week. The program has been very successful, and the bins are usually filled up by the end of the day, Penor says.

Shortly after Juneau’s new program took off, the DEA once again approved funding for the National Drug Take Back event for 2015, but Juneau prefers to continue using their daily collection bins.

Locations for this year’s event have yet to be released, but past events have taken place in Anchorage, Aniak, Bethel, Craig, Dillingham, Eagle River, Fairbanks, Emmonak, Fort Greely, Glennallen, Juneau, Ketchikan, Kodiak, Kotzebue, McGrath, Nome, North Pole, Palmer, Petersburg, St. Mary’s, Seward, Sitka, Skagway, Soldotna, Talkeetna, Valdez and Wasilla.

The DEA states that the official locations for the September 26 event should be posted on their website no later than September 1. http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/

If you’re looking to drop off leftover medications any day of the week, Anchorage, Juneau, and Soldotna have collection bins at their local police stations.