It’s Drug Take Back Month in Minnesota and a little bag made by a Minnesota company is helping police agencies across the state accept pills that, in the wrong hands, can harm.

Hennepin County Sheriff Dave Hutchinson says the county has seen 285 overdoses in the last year. The most recent data from the CDC shows half of Americans have had one prescription in the past 30 days.

Former U.S. Rep. Mary Bono (R-Calif.) and retired Adm. James Winnefeld make a formidable duo in the crusade against opioid misuse. They’ve been fighting the good fight together for years at a high level, most recently as the point persons on an initiative called Gone for Good.

In Jacksonville, the pandemic has likely contributed to the increase in overdoses as more people were stuck at home in 2020. Now, two local groups are teaming up to fight back. The Community Coalition Alliance and the Florida National Guard are using Deterra to get drugs out of homes.

According to Richland Public Health’s data, the county saw 1,666 deaths last year. Sixty-one of them were drug overdoses, with more than a quarter happening in May and June. In 2019, at least 43 deaths were caused by overdose, with 11 cases pending. The Richland County Youth Substance Use Coalition asks the public to use Deterra Drug Deactivation and Disposal System Pouches or drop boxes to make safe disposals.

Verde Environmental Technologies, Inc. CEO Jason Sundby discusses how Deterra is helping solve the problem of safe medication disposal on the latest episode of the Impact Podcast with John Shegerian.

Rural communities have not been immune to the impact of our nation’s opioid crisis. In fact, a survey sponsored by the American Farm Bureau Federation and National Farmers Union found that 74% of farmers and farm workers say they’ve been directly impacted by the opioid epidemic, yet only 1 in 3 rural adults say it would be easy to access treatment.

The toll that opioids and other prescription drugs have taken on Indigenous communities is well documented, but these drugs are continuing to poison our families, our communities and our environment. Nationwide, Native Americans are three times more likely to die of a drug overdose than the general population. We need a solution.

Verde Environmental Technologies, Inc. welcomes Bob Jansen, founder and CEO of Zensights, to its board of directors. As a board member, Jansen intends to spread awareness of proper disposal of unused prescriptions and over-the-counter medications, to protect both U.S. citizens and the environment from the impacts of improper medication disposal.