Arkansas House Weekly Column

Drug overdose deaths are the leading cause of unintentional injury deaths in the U.S., exceeding vehicle fatalities by 50 percent. More than 143 people in America die each day due to a drug overdose. In Arkansas, 1,067 people have died from a drug overdose in a 3-year span (319 in 2013, 356 in 2014, and 392 in 2015).

A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control shows Arkansas has the second highest opioid prescription rate in the country.

This week, we want to remind you of a statewide effort aimed at reducing prescription drug abuse.

Law enforcement agencies across the state will be collecting old or expired prescription drugs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017, as part of the 14th National Drug Take Back Event. All locations can be easily found at www.artakeback.org by left-clicking on the Collection Sites/Events & Dropboxes tab, which includes a Google map and search by Zipcode or Collection Site Name.

The abuse of medicines by teens often results in medical emergencies or fatal overdoses. Many teens get the drugs from a friend or relative. A safe medicine take-back program gets potentially dangerous leftover drugs out of our homes.

Leftover medicine is toxic waste. It poses a danger to people, pets, and the environment if it’s not disposed of properly. If flushed or thrown away it can get into the waterways, affecting our drinking water. Just as we don’t put used motor oil or leftover paint thinner in the trash, we should not put toxic leftover medicines in the garbage. Unwanted medicines should be disposed of properly like other household hazardous waste.

If you cannot make it to a take back event on the 28th, check the website for a permanent collection site near you. There are dozens of permanent collections sites across the state.

Our efforts as a state do not end with the take-back events. This year the legislature passed Act 820 which mandates that prescribers of dispensed opioids enter information on controlled prescription drugs into the state’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PMP) database. It also requires the Department of Health to contract with a vendor before 2019 to make the PMP interactive and provide same day reporting if funding is available.

As we continue to review ways in which legislation can help eliminate this epidemic, we encourage you to check the artakeback.org website to see what resources are available in your community. In addition to collection sites, the website also provides valuable information drug abuse and maps to nearby recovery centers.

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