Whitehall and Catasauqua police will be participating in the sixth National Take Back Day drug collection Saturday, April 27.

The Catasauqua Police Department at 118 Bridge St. and Whitehall police at 3731 Lehigh St. are among 17 sites throughout Lehigh County to collect expired and unused prescription and over-the-counter medications 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Capsules, pills, including pet medications and liquids will be accepted. Syringes or sharps will not be accepted.

Residents who dispose of medications will remain anonymous.

The event is being coordinated by the Lehigh County District Attorney's Office, area police departments, the Allentown Health Bureau, Pennsylvania State Police and the U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration.

During the last five collection events in 2010, 2011 and 2012, a total of 3,269 pounds of drugs was collected in Lehigh County alone.

"Members of the public have expressed their gratitude to police for hosting the collections because they want to make sure the drugs don't get into the hands of children who want to experiment with them or end up in landfills or in the area's water supply," said Lehigh County District Attorney James B. Martin.

DEA personnel take the drugs to an incinerator where they are burned.

Many people don't know that most of the commonly abused drugs by teenagers are prescription drugs, Martin said. They are usually in the family's bathroom medicine cabinets, where they are forgotten. Because they are not being used by the people for whom they were prescribed, no one checks to see if one pill or 10 pills are missing, Martin said.

Among the drugs are misused and abused are Vicodin, Percocet, OxyContin and codeine cough syrup, stimulants like Adderall, Ritalin and Dexedrine, and sedatives and tranquilizers like Valium, Xanax and Ambien.

"Many users of street drugs, such as heroin, start with prescription drug abuse," said Martin.

He said that many teens believe that because a doctor prescribed medications or they are available in their local drugstore that they are not dangerous.

The diversion of prescription medications also contributes to crime in the same way that street drugs do. Illegal activities related to prescription drug diversion include forgery of prescriptions, pharmacy robberies, and burglaries of businesses where controlled substance prescription drugs are kept.

Computer users also can visit www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov and click on "Got Drugs" on the left to find other convenient drop off locations.