U.S. Senator Joe Manchin speaks with students during a visit to Winfield Middle School on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016, in Winfield. Manchin visited the school to unveil a statewide drug prevention initiative.
WINFIELD, W.Va. — On the back of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day over the weekend, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin on Tuesday announced a new statewide initiative that will continue to allow West Virginia residents to safely dispose of unused and unwanted prescription medications to ensure they do not end up abused.
Pharmaceutical company Mallinckrodt donated 55,000 “drug deactivation pouches” to the state – 1,000 per county. Unused medications are placed in the pouch, which contains a granular carbon that when mixed with water deactivates the medication. The pouch can then be sealed and thrown away in normal trash.
The pouches will be delivered to the county sheriff’s departments in the next few weeks.
Speaking to students at Winfield Middle School where the initiative was announced, Manchin said enemies of the United States around the globe are waiting for Americans to destroy themselves with addiction. He told the children it was up to their generation to prove them wrong.
“You are the hope of the world,” Manchin said. “No generation of Americans has ever let us down. But if you get messed up on drugs, you are going to let me down. You are going to let yourself down.”
The United States makes up just about 4 percent of the world’s population but consumes 80 percent of the world’s prescription pain medications, Manchin told the students. West Virginia providers wrote 138 painkiller prescriptions for every 100 people, the highest rate in the country.
The majority of prescription drug abusers report in surveys that they get their drugs from friends and family. Eight of 10 new heroin users began by abusing prescription painkillers and moved to heroin when they could no longer obtain or afford those painkillers.
“We’ve been overprescribed,” Manchin said. “Some doctors don’t know, but some just don’t care. If you go in with a toothache, I guarantee you don’t need 30 days of Oxycontin. Maybe two days, maximum. If you still have a toothache after the two days, something else is wrong.”
Cabell County Sheriff Tom McComas said he thinks the pouches will make wonderful additions to the department.
McComas isn’t sure when the department will get the pouches or how they will be distributed, but said he does know they won’t do any good sitting on a shelf.
He said he thinks his department will run out of the pouches quickly, but said in talks with Manchin, the sheriff’s departments might be able to work out a deal with the pharmaceutical company to purchase more of the pouches on their own at a discount price.
The pouches are also available for purchase at pharmacies. They come in several sizes, but small pouches cost under $3.
There are other options for those who want to safely dispose of unused medication. Cabell County has two permanent prescription medication drop-off boxes at the Huntington Police Department and the Milton Police Department. The Huntington Police Department was also just awarded a drug incinerator from the West Virginia attorney general to aid in the disposal of unwanted drugs.
Follow reporter Taylor Stuck on Twitter and Facebook @TaylorStuckHD.