CINCINNATI, Ohio– In 2017, Ohio ranked second in drug overdose deaths involving opioids, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. That’s why a major pharmacy is now working to help eliminate drugs before they make it to the street.

When you walk into a CVS, you usually go to get prescriptions, not get rid of them. But now CVS Pharmacies across the state are installing a new way to dispose of meds.

“As a customer comes into the store, and they have medication they want to get rid of, whether prescription medications, over the counter medications, liquid or creams, they can just go ahead and put the prescription in here and simply close it up,” Rob Muse, a CVS District Manager in Cincinnati said. “And it goes into the disposal kiosk where we can then dispose of it safely for the customer.” 

The kiosks are secure and can only be accessed by a pharmacy employee. Right now, the kiosks are installed in 119 CVS Pharmacies across the state of Ohio.

“Major cities- Toledo, Akron, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati all have those kiosks in the CVS’s,” Muse said.

Through this initiative, CVS has collected over 1.1 million pounds of drugs in the nation, including 36,000 pounds in the state of Ohio. 

But for stores that don’t have kiosks, a new program rolling out in 2020 will allow anyone to dispose of drugs properly. 

“DisposeRx is actually a powder that you’re going to be able to put in your existing prescription vile that’s going to allow you then to make that product unusable,” Muse said. “So when mixed with a little bit of warm water, then you can just go ahead and dispose of it in normal trash.”

Before these kiosks were installed in many CVS Pharmacies as well as at local law enforcement buildings, there really wasn’t a safe way to get rid of medications.

“People need a place to be able to dispose of medications that they no longer need,” Muse said, “Some of these could be as simple as a blood pressure medication or maybe a pain reliever like an opioid that we’re trying to get off the streets right now.”

The opioid epidemic continues to impact much of the country. Many times, one prescription pain killer can be enough to create an addiction.

“Dental pain or surgeries or things like that that were the most common pieces for those small amounts to get on the street and unfortunately get out of the medicine cabinet and get into people’s hands that shouldn’t have it,” Muse said.

CVS has plans to install an additional 1,000 kiosks across the country in 2020.