Discount Drug Marts in Lorain County will supply patients who receive short-term opioid prescriptions with a medication disposal pouch that deactivates any unused drugs, making sure they can’t be misused in the future.
Discount Drug Mart teamed up with the Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services Board of Lorain County to provide the medication disposal pouch and to raise awareness of safe medication disposal, according to the retail pharmacy chain.
Pouches are also available for free to the public upon request at the pharmacy counter at any of the pharmacy’s locations in Lorain County as well as tamper-evident locking medicine bags.
6.2 million Americans misused controlled prescriptions and often obtained them from family and friends, according to the 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
The drug disposal pouches were donated from Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, representatives of Discount Drug Mart said.
This is the third county in Ohio that the pharmacy has launched medication disposal initiatives in.
Discount Drug Mart offers similar programs in Summit and Tuscarawas counties.
Opioid abuse in Ohio is a problem many organizations are trying to solve as it is a major issue within the state.
Ohio is among the top five states with the highest rates of opioid-related overdose deaths, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
