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Prescription drugs, that is!

The Metropolitan Police Department is participating in National Prescription Drug Take-Back this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Want to know why you should take the time to drop off your unwanted pills at the police station instead of flushing them down the toilet? Take it away, Mother Jones.

Recent studies have found that human drugs can disrupt the biology and behavior of fish and other aquatic critters at very low concentrations. “You can have measurable behavioral effects in fish and shellfish even at the parts per billion level,” says Christian Daughton, a veteran EPA scientist who studies how pharmaceuticals affect waterways. Some drugs apparently accumulate in fish over time: One study published earlier this year in the journal Environmental Science found that male fish whose brains contained traces of Zoloft appeared less anxious. And while that might seem amusing, these fish are also less effective at seeking shelter from predators. One of the lead researchers, Bryan Brooks, director of the environmental health science program at Baylor University, told me that antibiotic waste, which is associated with antibiotic-resistant bacteria in fish, also is a big problem in the wild.

Think of the zonked-out fish. Take your unwanted prescription drugs to one of the police stations this Saturday.

• 1st District: 101 M Street, SW

• 1st District Substation: 500 E St SE

• 2nd District: 3320 Idaho Avenue, NW

• 3rd District: 1620 V Street, NW

• 4th District: 6001 Georgia Avenue, NW

• 4th District Substation: 750 Park Road, NW

• 5th District: 1805 Bladensburg Road, NE

• 6th District: 100 42nd Street, NE

• 7th District: 2455 Alabama Avenue, SE

• Wisconsin Baptist Church, 3920 Alton Place, NW