The DuPage County Sheriff’s Office and the DuPage County Health Department are now offering a free program allowing county residents to safely dispose of unused prescription medications 24 hours a day.

As part of the Rx Drop Box Program residents can now dispose of un-used drugs at a designated box at the west entrance to the Sheriff’s Office, 501 N. County Farm Road, Wheaton.

Collection and disposal of drugs will be handled by the Environmental Protection Agency, according to John Zaruba, DuPage County Sheriff.

“Our goal is to dispose of them (drugs) properly so they stay out of the hands of our children,” Zaruba said.

“The easiest place for youth to acquire drugs is in the medicine cabinets of their own home. Pharmaceuticals are the most abused, misappropriated, stolen drugs,” Zaruba said.

The drop off is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Participants concerned about personal information marked on prescription bottles can place unused medicine in a plastic bag for disposal, officials said.

All medicine will be incinerated by the EPA.