September 12, 2019

Utah Attorney General Sean D. Reyes joined with Riverton City, Intermountain Riverton Hospital, and the Utah Opioid Task Force this morning to announce a local solution to the state and national opioid epidemic.

The opioid crisis is a widespread, community issue. It affects every family, community, and city. Unfortunately, deaths from opioid overdose in Utah now surpass deaths caused by firearms and vehicles. One of the best ways to start addressing this epidemic is in the home. Medicine cabinets are often filled with unused and expired medications that can easily be taken and abused.

To address this issue, Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs introduced a new cost efficient, eco-friendly medication disposal program using NarcX. This safe, easy-to-use liquid solution dissolves pills, tablets, capsules, liquids and patches immediately on contact, making them non-retrievable. A proprietary blend of ingredients allows even coated time-release capsules to quickly disintegrate and become neutralized, and indigestible properties prevent any attempt at abuse. Large, blue boxes containing NarcX will be placed at locations throughout Riverton in order to encourage the disposal of unused, unwanted, and expired medications. Bottles of the solution can also be purchased from select pharmacies in Riverton and can be placed in the home as an on-site option for safe and convenient destruction of medicines.

In addition to this new program, the Utah Attorney General’s Office partners with the DEA for Take Back Day each year. Unused and unwanted medications are collected across the State of Utah in an effort to prevent drug addiction and overdose deaths. In the last three years this initiative has been done in Utah, 90,000 pounds of medications were collected.

“We are all vulnerable to the opioid crisis,” said Attorney General Reyes. “Today is the day to make a difference. Let’s take back as many of these unused, unwanted medications as possible.”