Sitting inside the medicine cabinets of many Cass County homes are small, unsuspecting vials that, while forgotten by their original owners, could spell massive trouble for the community.

While diminutive in size, unused or expired prescription medication can cause some big headaches for law enforcement, who are often left cleaning up the messes caused when these pills are not disposed of properly — or fall into the wrong hands.

Later this month, county residents will have the opportunity to do their part to help solve this ongoing dilemma.

On Saturday, Sept. 26, a number of county law enforcement and government entities are teaming up with the C.A.S.S. Community Coalition to collect prescription pills, tablets and capsules from local residents for safe disposal.

This annual collection is held in conjunction with other drug take back events across the county through the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, with the other taking place during the spring, said Cass County Undersheriff Richard Behnke.

“It’s an opportunity for residents to clean out their medicine cabinets,” Behnke said.

Drugs collected that Saturday will be turned over to the DEA, which will in turn safely dispose of the medication.

Officials with the sheriff’s office have been combating the issue of unwanted prescription medication for about the last 10 years, Behnke said.

One of the problems with these drugs is that many people don’t properly dispose of them, instead choosing to do things like flush them down the toilet, which in turn can contaminate water supplies.

The high amount of unused pills is also fueling drug abuse issues.

“People are stealing the drugs and using them, particularly painkillers,” Behnke said. “That is contributing to the heroin problem we’re seeing.”

Often, people who have become addicted to painkilling medication turn to heroin for their fix, which offers the same high but at a fraction of the price of pills on the black market.

In addition to participating in the two annual DEA-sponsored collections, the sheriff’s office has a permanent drug collection box at it’s facility on M-62, which allows residents to dispose of their unwanted drugs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Deputies clean out the box once every few weeks, taking the stockpiled medication to a facility in Grand Rapids for disposal, Behnke said.

“The box is about the size of a standard mailbox, so that’s a considerable amount of drugs we collect on a regular basis,” Behnke said.

For more information about the Sept. 26 pickup, including additional sites, people can visit the DEA website at http://www.dea.gov.

Sites in Michigan cannot dispose of liquid, patch, or needle-based medication, due to current regulations.