Drug deactivation packs to be distributed across Shreveport-Bossier in fight against opioid epidemic

BOSSIER CITY, La. (KSLA) — Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry stopped in northwest Louisiana on Tuesday, Nov. 2 to announce the distribution of drug deactivation packs.

The new packs will be distributed via Meals on Wheels through the Bossier Council on Aging in an effort to combat the opioid epidemic.

“Our seniors have loved ones, caregivers, hired help and they see those medicines and they say, ‘Oh, I hurt my knee,’ and they’ll say, ‘Here, honey, take one of these,’” said Tamara Crane, executive director of the Bossier Council on Aging.

“If we help seniors clean out their cabinets, then that’s one less addict to keep off the streets,” Landry said.

In 2020, overdose deaths surpassed 93,000 throughout the country, compared to 72,000 deaths the previous year. Of those deaths in 2019, 70.6% of them involved opioids.

“It’s like taking one step forward and two backwards,” Landry replied when asked what he thinks about the spike in overdose deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For more information on deactivation packs or to request one, click here. If you, or someone you know is struggling with an addiction, click here.

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