Beshear, local leaders help rid unused opioids by providing 700 safe drug disposal pouches
LOUISVILLE, KY. (May 18, 2018) – Attorney General Andy Beshear was in Louisville today to help Louisville Metro Housing Authority residents clean out their medicine cabinets and safely dispose of unused opioids.
Beshear said the effort is part of his office’s Kentucky Opioid Disposal Program which aims to help reduce the nearly 80 percent of heroin users who begin their addiction with prescription drugs.
Local leaders joined Beshear at Dosker Manor, a 685-unit Louisville Metro Housing Authority senior living center, to dispense 700 safe drug deactivation pouches to residents.
Participating in the community event with Beshear were Mayor Greg Fischer, Councilwoman Barbara Sexton Smith, Commonwealth’s Attorney Tom Wine, County Attorney Mike O’Connell, Louisville Metro Housing Authority Board of Commissioners Chairman Manfred Reid and co-founder of the Kentucky Harm Reduction Coalition Russ Read.
Beshear said the pouches allow residents in the Phoenix Hill neighborhood senior living center to dispose of up to 31,500 unused opioids.
“Steering Kentuckians away from addiction starts with cleaning out medicine cabinets,” said Beshear. “The number of drug overdoses in Kentucky is staggering and I applaud Louisville’s leaders for joining with my office to help hundreds of Louisvillians cutoff the supply of dangerous unused opioids.”
Fourth District Councilwoman Barbara Sexton Smith said, “We welcome Attorney General Andy Beshear to Metro District 4 as we launch the Opioid Disposal Program. Many people do not realize one of the most dangerous places for drug abuse is in the medicine cabinet in our very own homes. We now have an easy, safe and fast way for you to dispose of unwanted prescription drugs. Open the pouch, pour in the unwanted drugs along with water, shake and throw away. It is just that simple. You can help save lives starting today.”
The Louisville Metro Housing Authority hosted today’s event with Beshear and the authority’s Board of Commissioners Chairman Manfred Reid said, “All of us must take responsibility for the proper disposal of these drugs.”
Russ Read, co-founder of the Kentucky Harm Reduction Coalition, said the coalition along with the attorney general and our partners continue to take proactive steps to fight sickness, overdose and death by engaging, educating and empowering all with naloxone and drug deactivation kits.
“The disease of addiction remains a formidable foe in our community,” said Read. “Addiction is a problem that touches all of us and must be addressed by all sectors of our community, by providing treatment to the victim, the family and friends. Only together can we affect the change that is needed.”
In August 2017, Beshear launched the Kentucky Opioid Disposal Program, the state’s first initiative allowing Kentuckians to safely dispose of opioid medications at home.
In total, the program has the potential to dispose of more than 2.2 million unused opioids.
Initially the pilot program started in four Kentucky counties, Floyd, Henderson, McCracken and Perry, as well as Beshear’s Office of Senior Protection that is working with the faith-based community to distribute the pouches at senior events.
Earlier this week, Beshear welcomed Graves County as the newest Kentucky Opioid Disposal Program partner.
Since announcing the program, Beshear has worked with local officials from Mayfield to Louisville who are interested in helping their citizens clean out medicine cabinets and create safer communities.
In March, Beshear joined CVS Health to launch safe, in-store medication disposal units in nine 24-hour CVS Pharmacy locations throughout the state.
As attorney general, Beshear has made it his core mission to combat the state’s opioid epidemic.
In November 2017, Beshear first filed suit against drug manufacturer Endo Pharmaceuticals regarding its drug Opana ER. The suit alleges Endo violated state law and directly contributed to opioid-related deaths and overdoses in Kentucky.
Beshear has also sued four national opioid distributors, Pennsylvania-based AmerisourceBergen, Ohio-based Cardinal Health, San Francisco-based McKesson Corporation and New Jersey pharmaceutical manufacturer Johnson & Johnson, and its Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Ortho-McNeil subsidiaries.
As the lawsuits progress, Beshear said his main priority is to make sure these drug companies are hauled into a Kentucky court and held accountable to those they have harmed – the people of Kentucky.
Beshear is also working with local law enforcement and community leaders to host substance abuse awareness forums across the state. The office has also been instrumental in numerous drug-related arrests, including working with federal authorities to arrest a fentanyl dealer whose drugs killed several Kentuckians.
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