RICHMOND, Va. -- A recent effort by the Drug Enforcement Administration to help reduce prescription drug abuse by allowing pharmacies to take back unused drugs is not having the impact that the agency had hoped it would.
Only one percent of American pharmacies have set up disposal programs. Big chains, including Walgreens and CVS are not among the participating pharmacies. Those pharmacies argue cost and security are big concerns and reasons why they have not set up programs.
Smaller, locally-owned pharmacies called the challenges even bigger.
“It just doesn’t work out to be very feasible for a lot of pharmacies,” said Buford Road Pharmacy technician Mehdi Aghabeh.
The Buford Road Pharmacy, in historic Bon Air, is hoping to take back unused prescription drugs from its customers in the near future, but said it’s not an easy task.
Buford Road Pharmacy
“I would hope we could one day be able to do it, and should be able to do it, but because of all the red tape and cost it doesn’t always work out be very feasible for us or the customers,” said Aghabeh.
Countless unused prescription pills linger in households across the country, making them easily accessible for addicts, including adolescents. The prescription drug abuse crisis has also led to a heroin epidemic because the powerful drug is cheaper and offers a stronger high.
About 23,000 Americans died from prescription drug and heroin overdoses in 2013. Drug overdoses in Virginia last year cost 728 Virginians their lives.
The epidemic is now claiming more lives in the Commonwealth than highway accidents.
While local police departments are working in conjunction with the DEA to offer drug take-back programs once or twice a year, critics say it’s not enough to combat the problem.
“Once a year or twice a year is a public relations event,” said John Shinholser with the McShin Foundation.
The McShin Foundation, located in Henrico County, is one of Virginia’s leading drug abuse recovery centers.
Shinholser hopes more pharmacies find ways to offer the program to customers, but said it’s only a small step in reducing the current drug problem plaguing America.
“When we start losing double the amount of people we’re losing now, and twice the amount of families lose a loved one,” Shinholser argues, “ I think when you get that many people waking up, then we’ll get legitimate movement.”
