Pharmacists are crucial cogs in the health care system. Formally educated, they carefully count, distribute, and provide instructions on prescription drugs ordered by providers. But two days a year, some pharmacists help collect unused prescriptions lingering in medicine cabinets. On Saturday, Micah Chavez, a third-year pharmacy student at the University of New Mexico’s College of Pharmacy, was presiding at one Drug Take Back Day location, where people brought large and small caches of drugs, some mostly benign, others life-threatening. “This event’s really important because, obviously, it keeps unwanted drugs off the street,” Chavez said. “You don’t want them in the trash can. You also don’t want to flush them down the toilet; it messes up the water supply.” Drug Take Back Day is a bi-annual national event held in April and October, but Chavez also has a year-round mission as chair of the Operation Substance Use Disorder at the College of Pharmacy, which trains fledgling pharmacists to practice harm-reduction and avoid being judgmental about problematic substance use. “The biggest thing we want to keep off the streets is going to be narcotics,” Chavez said. “Those are the best things, but any drug, in general — because if you think about it, any prescription medication is considered hazardous or harmful. That’s why it’s prescribed.”There are over-the-counter medications, including Tylenol, that can be harmful if too many are taken at once or if they are taken too often, he said.