BATON ROUGE — Saturday is National Prescription Drug Take Back Day around the country and here in Louisiana. It’s the perfect time to go through your medicine cabinet.

"It's important to go through your medicine cabinet and get rid of things that are expired, old or unused for a number of reasons. First and foremost is the efficacy of these medications may actually be less than when they were originally prescribed. Conversely, there are some medications that become more potent, and they may actually interact with your body or with your other medications,” family medicine doctor Neha Vyas said.

It can also be confusing to have a bunch of old prescriptions sitting around. You could wind up taking the wrong one, which could be dangerous.

If the expiration date on the label has worn off, you can do a physical exam of the medication instead. Keep an eye out for things like discoloration or decay. If it is hard to tell, you can check with a doctor or pharmacist or just throw it out.

Drug Take Back Day helps you get rid of medication properly.

“You want to be mindful of how you dispose of your old, unused, or expired medications. You don't want to flush them down the toilet or put them down the drain. You do want to discard them in safe, appropriate places,” Vyas said. “You can check the Drug Enforcement Agency website for specific instructions on how to do so or contact your local municipality. Oftentimes, the local governments have places where you can dispose them or send them to, and they will take care of it for you.”

Drug Take Back Day in Baton Rouge takes place Saturday at the Baton Rouge Police Headquarters on Airline Highway. It starts at 10 a.m. and goes until 2 p.m.