The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department is preparing to conduct its annual drop-off of prescription and over-the-counter drugs in Fayetteville and Cumberland County. 

  The event is scheduled Oct. 27 from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m., and there will be three locations in the Hope Mills area where residents can safely get rid of expired or unneeded medications. 

  The three drop-off points are Hope Mills Fire Department, Pearce’s Mill Fire Department and Stoney Point Fire Department. 

  Lt. Shawna Leake, who heads the community policing section for the county sheriff ’s department, said the drug drop-offs are normally held twice a year, once in the spring in conjunction with National Poison Prevention Week, and again in the fall. The three locations in Hope Mills are among seven countywide where people can drop off medications. 

Leake said fire departments are a good location for the drop-offs. “Those are places the public is familiar with,’’ she said. She added locations are chosen based on where there has been the best response from the public in previous years. 

  Leake said the public is encouraged to bring any kind of prescription or over-the-counter drug they’d like to safely dispose of – not limited to medications. 

  “Sometimes people bring us diabetic needles,’’ she said. “(Like) when they’ve lost a loved one and don’t know what to do with their medicines and have a lot of different drugs they are taking.’’ 

  Even seemingly harmless items like cough drops that aren’t being used anymore or any medicines that have expired are welcome. 

  The main drugs that need to be turned in are any narcotics, especially opioids, to prevent them from falling into innocent hands or the hands of those who would abuse them. 

  “We have an opioid epidemic we are currently combating,’’ Leake said. “Those are the things we really want people to turn in. We don’t want them to be flushed down the toilet or put in the trash.’’ 

  Any drugs disposed of in that manner have the potential to get into the local water system, Leake said. 

  The only kind of drugs that should not be brought to the drop-off are illegal drugs, she said. If individuals or families have substances like that they need to dispose of, they need to contact law enforcement directly. “We’ll respond to that call in a different fashion,’’ Leake said. “We would rather they not bring them to this event.’’ 

  For specific questions or concerns about the drug drop-off, call Leake at 910-438-4015.