Thousands of Arkansans played a small part Saturday in the effort to stop the opioid crisis.
Drug Take Back Day comes twice a year, and as more people learn about it, more of them participate.
“It’s because we have so many in our communities who are battling drug addiction, who have lost the battle with drug addiction, that we are seeing the drug take backs get bigger and bigger every year,” Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said.
Rutledge, Congressman French Hill (R-Arkansas), and THV11 teamed with law enforcement officers across the state to help collect unused medication.
David Wilson said this was his second time participating. “Some over-the-counter headache pills,” he said of the bag he handed to North Little Rock police officers, “and some old prescriptions that belonged to my grandson.”
Wilson was one of many people who stopped by the North Little Rock Police Department’s setup in the Target parking lot off McCain Boulevard. Officers traded cups, pencils, and Chick-fil-A coupons for unwanted or expired medication.
“(The pills) got to go someplace,” Wilson said, “and I’d rather see it go wherever they take it than out of the street. Cause I know some of that stuff my grandson was on can be used for other things besides what it was meant for.”
Experts say people can become addicted to opioids after just one use.
“We are hoping to collect thousands and thousands of pounds of pills today, because we must get these pills out of our medicine cabinets,” Rutledge stated. “Too many people who have addictions go to family and friends’ houses and steal their medications.”
Mattie Thacker had never been to a Drug Take Back Day until Saturday. “I have a lot of medicine that I have been building up in my cabinet,” she explained. “Then, I finally saw a sign telling me what to do with it.”
She added that she did not know how to safely dispose of her prescriptions. “No, I always kept it,” she said, “just in case I might ever need it.”
Law enforcement officers set up at hundreds of sites statewide. They filled boxes with medications and empty prescription bottles that they then take off site and dispose of safely.
“I really appreciate it,” Thacker said. “I want to have an eco-friendly way to safely destroy my medicine, and also my information.”
Arkansas is one of the most-heavily-prescribed states in the United States. “In 2016 alone, Arkansas had 236,000,000 opioids prescribed,” Rutledge said. “That’s 78 pills per person. That’s man, woman, child, so we have a prescription drug problem in our state.”
Arkansas also ranks third in the nation for participation in Drug Take Back Day, a small step toward ending an epidemic.
“All I know,” Wilson said, “is that bag full of stuff I got will end up where it should be. That’s basically all I care about.”
The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office and Benton Police Department both reported collecting more than 1,000 pounds of medication Saturday.
If you missed it, there are more than 200 locations around Arkansas with 24-hour drop boxes.