Walgreens Launches Drug-Fighting Programs

Walgreens (Deerfield, Ill.) announced plans to launch two in-store programs it hopes will help combat drug and prescription-drug abuse.

The first program includes installing safe medication disposal kiosks that will oversee disposal of medications including opioids and other controlled substances. The kiosks will primarily be located in stores that are open 24-hours throughout 39 states and Washington, DC. Currently, kiosks have been installed in some California stores, and it plans to roll them out into more than 500 Walgreens stores by the end of this year.

The second program involves making naloxone, commonly referred to by its brand name Narcan, a lifesaving opiate/opioid antidote, available without a prescription in many of its pharmacies. The drug can be used to reverse overdoses caused by heroin and perscription opioids, and it has been launched in Walgreens stores in New York and will be rolled out to stores in Ohio and Indiana later this month. By the end of the program, naloxone will be available without a prescription in more than 5800 Walgreens locations, reports Drug Store News.