CONWAY, Ark. — The COVID-19 pandemic has not been friendly to a lot of people, as the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said they've noticed a recent uptick in prescription drug and opioid use during the pandemic.
"The broad shutdowns that we saw across the country-- one of the terrible side effects of that was that people felt isolated," said Arkansas Surgeon General and Emergency Room Doctor Greg Bledsoe.
He said that sense of isolation contributed to a rise in prescription medicine abuse.
"We seem to have an uptick of overdoses and suicide attempts," Bledsoe said.
It's a startling statistic that Jared Harper, Assistant Special Agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration. It's something that he sees every year, but especially during the pandemic.
"From October 2020 to October 2021, over 105,000 people have lost their lives due to overdoses," Harper said.
He mentioned that some cases of addiction begin when patients are prescribed medication during surgery recovery, where the patient begins to feel better, but the medicine stays in a cabinet.
That's something Harper said people should be very cautious about.
"Somebody could get their hands on it. Maybe it's a friend that comes and visits," Harper said.
Arkansas Drug Director Kirk Lane said just like in past years, more than 160 sites were set up Saturday to claim any unwanted and unused medications.
"We've been involved in this program in our states since 2010 and we have collected over 221 tons of prescription medications and safely destroyed them with the DEA," Lane said.
They've also seen the number of people getting rid of those unnecessary drugs continue to grow.
"The numbers to me is how good we're putting out that messaging, and how well that messaging is being read by the community," Lane said.
The state has nearly 300 permanent take back boxes that you can click here to find out more about.