SEATTLE — Last year in King County, there were nearly 150 overdose deaths involving prescription drugs and the number of these types of overdoses has been increasing over the past five years.
That is one reason law enforcement agencies across the area partnered with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to collect unused and expired prescription drugs on Saturday for Drug Take Back Day, which the DEA holds twice a year.
“Prescription drugs most definitely can cause addiction and overdose,” said Heather McMurry, the diversion program Manager for the DEA’s Seattle office. “Nationwide about 24% of overdose poisoning deaths are from prescription controlled substances.”
She said some people now addicted to fentanyl were first addicted to prescription drugs they could no longer get a hold of.
“The people that already had a substance use disorder, they were looking for other things, and that's when fentanyl really hit the market,” said McMurry.
The Renton Police Department was one of around 50 Washington law enforcement agencies that hosted drug take back events on Saturday.
“We know that prescription drug use is a really big issue in our community and throughout the nation,” said Stephanie Hynes, a public information officer with the Renton Police Department. “We don't want young people getting a hold of them, for prescription drugs that don’t belong to them, to accidently digest them.”
Drug addiction in general is one of the biggest problems facing Seattle, according to one Seattle Police Department crime prevention coordinator.
“It's kind of the nexus for all of the crimes, that it is the reason why people commit other crimes, to be able to fund that habit” said Sarah Lawson, a Seattle Police crime prevention coordinator. “Because they don't know what they're doing when they're on the drugs.”
Data from Public Health – Seattle & King County showed over the past five years deaths where prescription drugs played a role increased by 39%. The data showed that 148 drug overdose deaths in 2023 involved the use of prescription medications.
“Any medication is potentially dangerous, so whatever the medication is, we would rather have it disposed of properly,” said Lawson.
She says this Drug Take Back Day is one way that people can do their part to help prescription drugs from being misused.
“They have some peace of mind, but also we know we've gotten potentially hundreds of pounds of drugs to dispose of safely throughout the city of Seattle,” said Lawson.
The Renton Police Department has a drop box for prescription drugs open year-round that people can use when their office is open. There are also several other drop box locations throughout western Washington.