COLUMBUS — The first AG Drug Dropoff Day, hosted on Saturday by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, Kroger Health and law enforcement agencies in three counties hit hard by the opioid crisis — yielded 446 pounds of unused and expired medications.

“It was a huge success,” Yost said Monday. “Ohio has been overwhelmed by the opioid epidemic, and there are many reasons for that. Cleaning out your medicine cabinet regularly can prevent family members from misusing prescription drugs or giving them to others.”

The three counties chosen for Saturday’s event — Fayette, Franklin and Scioto — suffered the most opioid-overdose deaths in the second quarter of 2020, according to an analysis by AG Yost’s Scientific Committee on Opioid Prevention and Education (SCOPE).

During that time period, the analysis showed, Scioto County had 35.22 opioid-overdose deaths per 100,000 people; Fayette, 20.67; and Franklin, 19.43.

“Keeping unused or expired medications around the house is risky,” Yost said, “especially considering that 10 million Americans misused prescription drugs in 2019, with most having obtained them from family, friends and even their own medicine cabinets.”

Law enforcement partners for the AG Dropoff Day were the sheriff’s offices in Fayette, Franklin and Scioto counties as well as the Portsmouth Police Department.

Here is a breakdown of the drugs collected in Scioto County:
• Kroger, 811 Gay St., Portsmouth: 72 pounds
• Kroger, 9101 Ohio River Rd., Wheelersburg: 59 pounds

Safe disposal of prescription drugs is important year-round, said Yost, who reminded all Ohioans that they can dispose of unneeded or outdated prescriptions any day of the year by contacting their local police department.

For those who prefer to wait until the next dropoff event, the attorney general urged them to watch their local news for details.