Kroger, county partner on drug disposal bags to fight opioids

Local Kroger pharmacies are partnering with service agencies on an effort to reduce opiate misuse in the community.

People picking up opiate prescriptions at 13 Kroger pharmacies will be given a drug disposal bag that allows for safe deactivation of unwanted pills and can be thrown in the trash.

Seventy-five percent of heroin addicts used prescription opioids before turning to heroin, according to Montgomery County Alcohol, Drug Addiction & Mental Health Services. Keeping unused pills from getting into the hands of addicts is a top priority in fighting the overdose epidemic affecting the county, the agency said.

“By using these charcoal deactivation disposal bags we can discourage misuse and abuse of unwanted opiate medications,” said ADAMHS Executive Director Helen Jones-Kelley. “The bags are convenient and easy-to-use with a simple three step process.”

When unwanted or unused pills are dropped into the bag and water is added, the solution in the bottom of the bag renders the drug unusable. The bag then is sealed and is safe to go into a landfill.

ADAMHS received a $50,000 state grant to collaborate with Goodwill/Easter Seals Miami Valley to purchase and distribute 5,000 drug disposal bags.

In addition to being handed out with prescriptions at Kroger, the bags can be picked up at Goodwill/Easter Seals locations.

Summit County has led the way in using the drug bags, distributing 40,000 bags last year. It’s one of the best practices Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s Heroin Unit is aiding more counties to implement. Summit County estimated that if every bag was used as directed, more than 1.3 million pills would be off the streets.

Although most communities have drug drop off days or permanent drop boxes available to dispose of unused medication, there are many people who can’t travel to take advantage of those opportunities.

The bags are also intended to prevent people from flushing medications down the toilet, which puts dangerous drugs into the the water supply, ADAMHS said.

The following Kroger locations will distribute the bags: