State agencies are working alongside each other to provide at-home medication disposal bags. There will be 1,000 of them, called Deterra Medication Disposal Bags, available in Mineral County, according to Prevention Specialist Stephanie Quick at last week’s Healthy Communities Coalition. The bags will be distributed to the Mineral County Pharmacy, Partnership Health Center in Superior, law enforcement agencies, the county health department and school nurses.

The purpose of the bags is to help reduce drug abuse and the opioid crisis which is plaguing the Unites States. The crisis is so large that drug-related deaths now exceed those caused by cars, HIV or guns, according to an article in the New York Times. While several programs and solutions are being sought, one solution is to get the drugs safely out of households. Nearly 70% of prescription drugs abusers get their drugs from a friend of family member according to the Department of Public Health and Human Services.

The Omni degradable bags have been made available through the Chemical Dependency Bureau of the Department of Public Health and the Interagency Coordinating Council for State Prevention Programs. In Montana 100,000 Deterra bags will be distributed. This is an at-home medication disposal system or drug deactivation system which does not need to be mailed-in or taken to a disposal site. Which makes them ideal for rural and frontier Montana households.

The bags contain activated carbon that when mixed with warm water renders the pharmaceutical compounds inert and safe for household trash. By reducing the availability of unwanted, unused and leftover prescription medication, “we protect individuals, homes and families, taking a step towards a safer and healthier Montana and furthering other ongoing opioid overdose prevention initiatives,” it said in a recent press release from the program.

Opioid medications include Vicodin, Percocet and OxyContin and is used to treat pain. Patients who receive many prescriptions or use these drugs over a long period of time, can become addicted. Unused pills may also end up on the black market.

From late August to early September the disposal bags will be distributed to all 56 Montana counties. The 26 counties without drug-take back locations or “drop-boxes” will receive a greater portion of the bags in an attempt to reach those in rural and frontier locations. Mineral County has a drop-box located inside the county courthouse in Superior.

This is a one-time opportunity provided by the Opiod State Targeted Response grant but it is possible to make individual or organizational purchases through Deterra.

“By strengthening community awareness, response and support we can all play vital roles in reducing access to unused or unwanted prescription medications in Montana communities,” said the press release.