HOGANSVILLE — The Hogansville Police Department is hoping its new drug collection unit will help people safely get rid of any excess prescription drugs.

The new unit is a collaborative effort from Walmart, the Medical Association of Georgia Foundation and Troup County Prevention Coalition and will be used so that people have a way to get rid of expired, unused or unwanted prescription drugs.

The unit, which is available 24 hours a day, officially opened on Saturday.

“This program will provide the community with a safe alternative to dispose of the drugs and medications that are in their homes,” said Hogansville Police Chief Brian Harr. “We receive calls from residents about disposing of prescription medications and other drugs. We found there were no drug disposal locations in Hogansville.”

The Hogansville Police Department has also purchased an incinerator, which gives the department a way to ensure drugs and medications are properly disposed of.

“We had a test run with it last week and we are going to have another test run with it, just working out the kinks,” Harr said Monday during the Hogansville City Council meeting. “It got up to 1500 degrees, no problem with the blower and no problem with the setup. It completely consumed just about everything, except maybe a little bit of ash.”

Harr said the department will pick up unused prescription drugs from elderly people or others who cannot physically make it to the department.

The drop-off is completely anonymous.

“You come in and drop it in just like a letter going in the mail,” Harr said. “We’ll separate any sharps or anything like that, any inhalers or anything we don’t think we should burn. This thing gets up to 1500 degrees, it’ll consume needles, glass, everything.”