Prescription drug abuse is the fastest growing drug addiction to date and the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department is urging all residents to check their homes and medicine cabinets for unused or expired prescription drugs.

Residents are encouraged to safely dispose of those drugs in a special drop box located in front of the sheriff’s department at 221 W. Main St., Warsaw. Medications should be properly disposed in the container and not simply discarded in the trash or flushed down toilets. The results of improperly disposing of medications will contaminate waterways and even end up in the wrong hands.

All medications collected in the drop box, which is emptied daily, are collected by the Drug Task Force and destroyed.

Officials say the medications should be left in original containers or placed in sealed baggies before being discarded in the drop box.