Lock Up Your Meds<\/a>\u201d program. <\/p>\nThrough June 30, the pharmacy is dispensing free locking medication bags and prescription locking bottles to individuals filling opioid prescriptions, including oxycodone and hydrocodone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Promoted as the first of its kind nationally, the campaign activates community-based dispensing sites to slow the state\u2019s rising overdose mortality rate. Opioids were involved in 82 percent of drug-related deaths in Washington in 2023, according to the latest data of Washington State Department of Health.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Lacey pharmacy, one of 16 sites across the state selected for the pilot, began implementation in March, the Health Care Authority (HCA) said in a news release.<\/p>\n
As of late April, pharmacists had issued 297 locking devices, conducted 143 safe storage consultations, and collected 70 signed pledges from patients committing to secure prescriptions inside their homes.<\/p>\n
\u201cPharmacies play a crucial role in keeping our communities safe and informed,\u201d said Dr. Charissa Fotinos, HCA\u2019s deputy chief medical officer, in a statement. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are grateful to all our local pharmacy partners for their commitment to educating residents about preventing opioid misuse and for promoting responsible medication use across Washington.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The program uses a behavior-change model developed by researcher Doug McKenzie-Mohr. It uses \u201cpoint-of-dispensing interaction\u201d and uses pledging as a method to improve follow through on safe storage practices.\u00a0<\/p>\n
HCA data show \u201cnearly half of people misusing pain relievers, including prescription opioids, get them from a friend or family member.\u201d Yet, only 44 percent of surveyed residents statewide report locking medications inside their homes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As reflected in the Department of Health\u2019s overdose dashboard, the crisis has extended into suburban and mid-sized jurisdictions, including Lacey. The agency also relayed that locking containers reduce diversion risk in homes with adolescents or frequent guests.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hawks Prairie Pharmacy\u2019s participation falls under HCA\u2019s “Starts with One” campaign. The move integrates local pharmacies into overdose prevention strategy without requiring new statutory authority.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Patients may decline the device or the pledge. The locking devices are issued during a prescription handoff with a brief consultation, and are available while supplies last. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Inventory may be replenished if resupply is authorized by the state.\u00a0To explore campaign goals and campaign strategies, visit the official Start with One<\/a> web page.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Kameko Marquez The frontlines of a response to an opioid crisis now includes a Thurston County pharmacy,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162076,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4315],"tags":[105,4326,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-162075","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-medication","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114634650151052860","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162075\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}