A prescription drug collection program that got its start in New Jersey last year is going nationwide this year to include more than 2,700 sites in all 50 states, a spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said. The National Prescription Drug Take-Back campaign, which is primarily aimed at preventing teenagers from raiding their parents’ medicine cabinet in search of drugs to get high, is modeled after New Jersey’s Operation Medicine Cabinet, a program that netted 9,500 pounds of pain killers, antidepressants and other medications last year.

“New Jersey is being used as a model. We were very happy with last year’s results,” said Special Agent Douglas Collier of the DEA’s New Jersey division.

This year’s national program and Operation Take-Back New Jersey will be held simultaneously in about 400 New Jersey towns on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Collection sites include police headquarters, libraries, pharmacies and supermarkets.

“We want people to go into their medicine cabinets and look for drugs that are expired or they don’t use anymore,” said Collier. “Medicine cabinets are a source of supply. We want to eliminate that.”

For most young people, especially first-time drug users, the most common way to find drugs to get high is to search their parents’ bathroom.

“It outnumbers the use of heroin and cocaine for first-time users among adolescents,” said Collier. “How many people have locks on their cabinets? But how many people have locks on their liquor cabinets?”

Over-the-counter medications also will be accepted and all contributors will remain anonymous. Town-by-town weight totals are not kept to protect anonymity. Read more in Star Ledger.