Westchester County officials encouraged the public Saturday to drop off their unwanted medications for the nationwide Drug Takeback Day.

Officials say it best to take old medications to a collection facility where professionals can discard them safely, rather than throw them in the trash or flush them down the toilet.

 The goal is to prevent unused prescription medications from getting into the wrong hands.

The Household Material Recovery Facility takes back old drugs the first Tuesday of every month. As much as 500 to 1,000 pounds of medicine gets destroyed each cycle.