St. Louis Park will participate in the 16th national Drug Take Back Day on Oct. 27, a day in which anyone can drop off expired or unused prescription drugs, according to the St. Louis Park City website.

People will be able to bring in their drugs to the St. Louis Park Police Department from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m with the intention of preventing opioid addictions and overdoses.

The Echo Editorial Board applauds St. Louis Park for participating in Drug Take Back Day. It is extremely beneficial for the community to offer a safe event for citizens to drop off drugs without their names on them.

When St. Louis Park participated in this day last April 18, roughly 81 pounds of drugs were collected through the St. Louis Park Police Department. This proves that Drug Take Back Day was successful in the community, and will be on the upcoming date.

The majority of the 6.2 million Americans who abuse prescription drugs obtain them from family, often in their medicine cabinets, according to the 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Having a designated day for the community to clear these drugs off people’s shelves can prevent any possible future addictions or accidental overdoses, which will positively impact St. Louis Park.

Improperly disposing of prescription drugs also causes environmental problems. According to the Mother Nature Network, more than a 100 different pharmaceuticals have been found in drinking water supplies for roughly 41 million Americans. By offering a safe disposal for those drugs, the environment will also be positively impacted.

However, in order for Drug Take Back Day to be truly beneficial, it needs to be promoted sufficiently. It is not publicized on the physical city-wide calendar, yet it should be if the city wants the community to participate. Because conversations about drugs are stigmatized, no one will drop off their prescription drugs if there is confusion around their opportunity to do so.

The Editorial Board urges St. Louis Park to not only publicize this day more, but also to educate the public on other ways to dispose of their prescription drugs. There are alternative disposal measures the community can take to safely get rid of drugs that many people don’t know about.

The city offers medicine disposal bags daily so anyone can throw their drugs away in their own home. There are many other anonymous prescription drug drop boxes throughout Hennepin County that are available every day. The Editorial Board believes the city should educate the community on these alternatives as well as promoting Drug Take Back Day.