Obama Calls for Safe Disposal of Unwanted Rx Drugs

In his latest weekly address, President Obama called on U.S. residents to safely dispose of their unwanted prescription drugs in an effort to curb growing rates of misuse. In his address, Obama said, "More Americans die every year from drug overdoses than they do in car crashes," noting, "And most of those deaths aren't due to drugs like cocaine or heroin -- but rather prescription drugs." He linked prescription drug misuse to the concurrent rise in heroin use, saying, "Many prescription pain medications belong to the same class of drug as heroin." He added, "In fact, four in five heroin users started out by misusing prescription drugs."

• "Obama Puts Spotlight on Prescription Drug Abuse" (Richardson, The Hill, 9/26).