Vicksburg and Warren County residents took advantage of a special program Saturday to get rid of old and unwanted drugs and prescription narcotics in their homes by visiting drop-off points manned by Vicksburg police officers and Warren County sheriff’s deputies during National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.

“It was very successful,” Police Chief Walter Armstrong said, adding the city’s collection point at Walgreens on Halls Ferry Road collected 74 pounds of unwanted or expired drugs.

“We were very pleased with the turnout,” he said. “People were able to get rid of narcotics and prescription drugs they no longer use, and that keeps them out of the hands of people who might take them either on purpose or accidentally, like children or the elderly, or a burglary breaking in their home.”

Sheriff Martin Pace said deputies collected 10 pounds of drugs at their command post at the Outlets of Vicksburg.

“This was successful day,” he said.

The National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is held twice a year in the spring and fall.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, the May Take-Back program collected 893,498 pounds of unwanted medicines—about 447 tons—at almost 5,400 sites spread throughout all 50 states.

The program helps prevent accidental overdoses, thefts and drug misuse and abuse of drugs, including narcotics that accounted for 20,808 drug overdoses—78 a day—in 2014, according to the DEA.

“More often than not pharmaceuticals left in a medicine cabinet are stolen by friends, relatives or in the act of burglaries,” Pace said. “We were glad people took advantage of having a place to dispose of them.”