Tempe Police Want Your Drugs -- So They Can Destroy Them

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​If you happen to have drugs laying around that you don't feel like enjoying need anymore, the Tempe Police Department is happy to take them off your hands -- so they can destroy them.

The TPD, in collaboration with the Drug Enforcement Administration, is holding a "drug take-back event" in Tempe on Saturday.

The idea is to give people an opportunity to anonymously rid their medicine cabinets of any dangerous drugs kids could get their hands on and possibly abuse.

The event is held nationally on behalf of Bernie and Beverly Strain -- a Philadelphia couple whose son died after he suffered a severe burn and his girlfriend's mother gave him some additional pain medication she had laying around the house. That medication reacted with something else he was taking and caused a fatal drug interaction.

Kids abusing prescription drugs is apparently a growing problem in the United States.

According to the feds, unintentional overdose deaths from prescription drugs increased 175 percent in a six-year span to 11,001 in 2006.

In 2009, there were 7 million Americans ages 12 and older who abused prescription drugs. In 2008, there were 6.2 million, so the popularity of pharmies is on the rise.

In the unlikely scenario that you have some weed laying around that you want to dispose of properly (no, we don't mean smoke), it's a bit of a gray area.

We asked Tempe police spokeswoman Molly Enright what would happen if someone dropped off a bag of weed. She wouldn't provide us with a specific answer but highlighted the fact that those who participate will remain anonymous. The cops will provide anyone participating with a box. Participants will put any drugs they wish to surrender into the box themselves -- anonymously -- and the police will dispose of them.

The event is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday in the lobby of the Tempe Police South Substation at 8201 S. Hardy Drive.

We'd say make a reservation, but we don't anticipate much of a line.