TOPEKA — More than 5,300 pounds of unused prescription drugs were collected during the state's drug-take-back day last month, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced Wednesday.

The semi-annual events — coordinated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration — encourage people to clean out their drug cabinets and take in unwanted or expired medications to one of some 70 locations throughout the state so that officers can safely destroy the medications.

“This was another successful event,” Schmidt said. “Thanks to the work of our local law enforcement officials, these drugs are no longer lingering in medicine cabinets, risking accidents or intentional misuse.”

More than 12 tons of medications have been collected in Kansas since the program began in 2010.

Unused prescriptions can be turned in year-round at many local law enforcement locations. For more information, contact a local sheriff’s office or police department.

Officials said medicines left in home medicine cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion and abuse.

More Americans abuse prescription drugs than use cocaine, hallucinogens and heroin combined, according to the 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

Studies show that individuals who abused prescription drugs often obtained them from family or friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. Officials said many Americans do not know how to properly dispose of unused medicine, often flushing them down the toilet or throwing them away, which poses safety and health hazards.