BATON ROUGE - On Saturday, residents handed over old prescription medications as a part of the DEA's semi-annual Drug Take Back Day. 

"The National Drug and Prescription Take Back Day provides an opportunity for the community to come out and safely get rid of any kinds of medication that they have in their home to prevent misuse," DEA agent Steven Hofer said.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration, the majority of the people that misuse medication get them at home from friends and family.

The CDC says an average of 44 people across the country die each day because of prescription opioid overdoses.

Dawn Collins, the Prevention Coordinator of Capital Area Human Services, says it's best to just go through the medicine cabinet to figure out what's old and no longer of use.

"Put some thought into what you haven't been using," Collins said. "Expired or not, you're not going to use it. So throw it away."

The drug take back happens twice a year, in spring and in fall.