Residents across San Diego County are being urged to help fight the growing problem of prescription-drug abuse by taking part in a nationwide medication "take back" drive this weekend.
On Saturday, hospitals, police stations, military facilities and other locales throughout the region will operate collection sites for expired and no-longer-needed pharmaceuticals as a way to ensure that they don't fall into the hands of curious children, addicts or recreational users.
Those wishing to get rid of their excess pills and potions can do so for free, with no questions asked.
The inaugural national Prescription Drug Take Back Day is a reaction to increases in abuse of legitimate medicines and resulting health problems and deaths.
In the San Diego area, fatalities related to misuse of physician-prescribed substances increased 67 percent between 2005 and last year, according to the county Medical Examiner's Office.
Medications can be dropped off between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday at the following locations (all area sheriff's stations accept them year-round):
Albertsons, 2955 Alpine Blvd., Alpine;
Camp Pendleton, front gate, Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton, San Onofre
parking lot (active-duty/retired military and beneficiaries only);
Coronado Police Department, 700 Orange Ave.;
Escondido Police Department, 1163 N. Centre City Parkway;
Fallbrook Sheriff's Station, 388 E. Alvarado St.;
Imperial Beach Sheriff's Station, 845 Imperial Beach Blvd.;
Kaiser Permanente, 250 Travelodge Drive, El Cajon;
National City Police Department, 1200 National City Blvd.;
Poway Sheriff's Station, 13100 Bowron Road;
Ramona High School, 1401 Hanson Lane;
Scripps Coastal Medical Center, 2176 Salk Ave., Carlsbad;
Scripps Memorial Hospital Chula Vista, 435 H St.;
Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas, 354 Santa Fe Drive;
Scripps Green Hospital, 10666 N. Torrey Pines Road;
San Diego Police Department Eastern Division, 9225 Aero Drive;
SDPD Northwestern Division, 12592 El Camino Real;
SDPD Southeastern Divisions, 7222 Skyline Drive;
Sycuan Tribal Police Department, 5459 Sycuan Road, Dehesa;
Tri-City Medical Center, 4002 Vista Way, Oceanside;
University of California, San Diego, Lot 705, Genesee Avenue at
Campus Point Drive;
Valley Center Sheriff's Station, 28201 N. Lake Wohlford Road; and
Walgreens Pharmacy, 10512 Mission Gorge Road, Santee.
