Bronx residents joined the battle against the country's opioid crisis Saturday by participating in a special effort to rid homes of unused prescription drugs.
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day allowed people to safely rid their homes of potentially dangerous, expired, unused or unwanted prescription pills.
Nearly 5,000 locations nationwide took in the drugs with no questions asked.
"I think a lot of people don't see the problem with just throwing them in the trash or just keeping them in their house," says resident Paige McAllister.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, each day more than 90 Americans die after overdosing on opioids that include prescription pain killers, heroin and fentanyl.
A study conducted by the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows that a majority of users obtained drugs from family and friends.
"You never know what your family is capable of so it's always good to clear the medicine cabinets," says resident Steven Pagan.
CNN reports that carrying out President Donald Trump's plan out to fight the opioid crisis under the Public Health Services Act means that no additional federal funding will be automatically directed toward the crisis.
Federal agencies will have to devote more grant money already in their budget to the problem.