FORT PIERCE — St. Lucie County is tops on the Treasure Coast for the number of prescription-related drug deaths, but officials with the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office and St. Lucie County Fire District want to change that. Officials with the two agencies have created “Operation Safe Medicine Cabinet” to help the public safely discard old medicines and prevent them from getting in the wrong hands or contaminating rivers and lakes. From January to May, about 20 people in the county have died from taking prescription drugs compared with 24 people for all last year, said Sheriff Ken Mascara. “Many people are under the misconception that taking prescription drugs not prescribed to them are safer than illicit drugs,” Mascara said. But that’s not true, Fire Chief Ron Parrish said. Safe drugs are not safe if they are not used correctly,” he said. On Saturday the public can drop off old medicines at eight locations in the county and receive at $5 gift card from CVS, Walgreens or Wal-Mart. No identification is required and a recipient can receive only one gift card per location regardless of the amount of medicine turned in, said Mark Weinberg, Sheriff’s Office spokesman. Also, the medicine doesn’t have to be in its original bottle and can be simply wrapped in tissue. After the event, the public can drop off old medicines at a safe box at the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, 4700 West Midway Road. Normally, people would try to turn old medicine in at pharmacies, but a law prevents pharmacies from taking them, Mascara said. Flushing medicine down the toilet or discarding it in the trash isn’t safe either, Mascara said because it could be accidentally be accessed by pets or children. An Associated Press investigation earlier this year showed water supplies for 41 million Americans contain tiny amounts of pharmaceuticals such as antibiotics and sex hormones. However, Treasure Coast water officials said the tap water is safe to drink because it comes from underground wells and not tainted lakes and rivers as in other parts of the country. The only safe way to discard old medicine is to incinerate it, Mascara said, and that’s what officials plan to do. What: “Operation Safe Medicine Cabinet,” a collaboration between the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, St. Lucie Fire District and local drug stores When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. The public can turn in old medicines and receive a $5 gift card from Wal-Mart, Walgreens or CVS pharmacies. Where: •St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office Lakewood Park substation, 4844 N. Kings Highway •St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office Sheraton Plaza substation, 2905 Juanita Ave. •St. Lucie County Administrative Office, 2300 Virginia Ave. •St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, 4700 West Midway Road •St. Lucie County Fire Station No. 10, 777 S.W. Dalton Circle •St. Lucie County Fire Station No. 12, 1850 S.E. Village Green Drive •St. Lucie County Fire Station No. 13, 201 S.E. Becker Road •St. Lucie County Fire Station No. 14, 300 N.W. California Blvd.