SELMA— When milk spoils or the casserole dish at the back of the refrigerator grows mold, it is thrown out. Unlike foods, outdated prescriptions stay in medicine cabinets much longer than the shelf life.

Often, these extraneous medications are found by other members of the household and taken incorrectly or are sold for money.

To prevent the misuse of prescription medications, the Selma Police Department will collect all pill and capsule medications Saturday as a part of the first National Take Back Initiative sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Administration, DEA.

“We have a lot of people that have prescription drugs that are outdated and we also have a lot of people that are selling prescription drugs and maybe are trying to kick the habit,” said Detective Sgt. Kenta Fulford, narcotics director for the police department. “With the sites being set up, they can turn those in without any questions being asked. All they have to do is walk up, drop the medications in and walk away.”

All pills and capsules will remain in the custody of an officer until a DEA representative takes the collection to an EPA approved incinerator. Officers will not accept liquids, needles or inhalers because of restrictions with the incinerator.

“One of the reasons it is important is because our country has developed such a big problem with prescription drug abuse, for teenagers especially,” said Barbara Carreno, press officer for the Drug Enforcement. “Most of [the medications] they get from the family medicine cabinet.”

Of the most commonly abused drugs by teenagers, seven of the 10 are prescription drugs and one out of 10 teenagers abuse prescription drugs.

Even if a parent or guardian throws the medication in the trash, the items are frequently retrieved by the family or someone outside and sold on the street or used by an addict, Carreno said.

“We’re offering people a more secure way to get rid of their medicines,” Carreno said.

Officers will be at the Old National Guard Armory on Dallas Avenue and at the Selma Police Department, 1300 Alabama Ave. from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. All bottles should have the labels removed or personal information crossed out.

The initiative is a program of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy’s 2010 National Drug Control strategy. One of the recommendations by the strategy was for the DEA to have more disposal programs for citizens to get expired prescriptions out of medicine cabinets so teenagers cannot use them, Carrreno said.

The DEA will collect expired medications every six months until Congress changes the Controlled Substances Act, which regulates the use and distribution of substances such as medications, to allow the DEA to administer a more convenient process for medication collection.