Champions to start prescription drug disposal program

Abuse has skyrocketed during pandemic, highest-ever overdose numbers for one year

When there’s a few unused pills in a prescription bottle, Champions for a Drug Free Muhlenberg County would like to offer a solution. Any leftover narcotic prescriptions can end up in the wrong hands, and they often do. The solution is an innovative way to safely dispose of leftover medications, and Champions will make it easier to do.

“We know that the majority of young people, 12 to 18, get prescription drugs from someone they know,” said program coordinator Vicki Yonts. “It’s not a drug dealer on the corner, it’s someone they know, out of their medicine cabinets.”

People often hold on to prescriptions, especially pain killers, in case they might have a need for them again. But expired narcotics can be toxic, Yonts said. Disposing of expired or unused opioids and narcotic prescriptions can help avoid them falling into the wrong hands, or making someone sick.

Throwing pills in the trash or flushing them down the drain can lead to contamination of waterways, and serious environmental hazards. The prescription drug take-back program that Champions is conducting is convenient and simple to use.

Beginning mid-May, the Champions Youth Agents will be working with local pharmacies to distribute special pouches used to dispose of leftover prescriptions. Simply empty the contents of the unused prescription into the pouch, and add water. The pouches contain a neutralizing agent and when combined with water, destroy any active ingredients in the prescription pills. Then it can be safely thrown in the trash.

These pouches will be available at Poole’s Pharmacy Care locations in Muhlenberg County, Greenville Pharmacy, and the Clinic Pharmacy locations in Muhlenberg County. They are free, and can be requested for any type of prescription, but will also be given to anyone picking up a prescription for pain killers.

Yonts said prescription drug abuse has seen a rise nationwide during the pandemic. The combined factors of people being stuck at home and children being home more has resulted in a spike in deaths, she said.

“From June 2019 to May 2020, there have been more than 81,000 opioid deaths in the United States,” Yonts said. According to the Centers for Disease Control, it was the highest number of overdose deaths ever recorded in a 12-month period. While overdose deaths were increasing before the onset of COVD-19, the numbers suggest an acceleration during the pandemic, the CDC says.

To help visualize the staggering number, Yonts said that is equivalent to a fully packed football stadium. “Imagine a whole, entire football stadium and everybody there dying.”

The disposal program will begin on May 10, and anyone who wants a bag can pick one up. There is also a large size available to use when cleaning out the medicine cabinet.