News 4 Tucson, KVOA had a story on Marana-based MHC giving away "lock boxes" to combat opioid abuse.
MHC Healthcare is fighting against the opioid abuse epidemic by providing lock boxes free of charge to patients who are prescribed potentially addictive drugs.
The MHC Healthcare foundation funded the purchase of 90 medicine lock boxes to begin rolling out to patients.
"This will help to secure the medicine for the patient and keep the medicine out of the wrong hands,” said Dr. Greg Redding, MHC Healthcare pharmacy director.
Redding noted the absence of any type of medicine security is a possible recipe for disaster.
"Somebody sees it in there who may have a drug problem of their own and they take some of the medication, it's stronger than what they're used to taking, then they're in real trouble,” Redding said.
Since June 15, 2017, the Arizona state health department has recorded nearly 1,000 suspected opioid deaths and over 6,300 overdoses.
The Town of Marana will be hosting a Dispose-A-Med event on April 14 at the Target on 3901 W. Ina Road from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. They will be collecting unused or expire prescriptions and over-the-counter medications.
