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As part of efforts to fight opioid addiction, Nebraska officials are urging residents to dispose of unused medications in a safe manner.

One newer option for safe disposal is medication disposal boxes — secured metal stands that resemble a newspaper box — that have been installed in about a dozen pharmacies, most in Omaha and Lincoln.

Laurie Dondelinger, a spokeswoman for Kohll’s Pharmacy & Homecare, said people can drop leftover prescriptions in the locked boxes. The medications are shipped to a manufacturer and incinerated.

Kohll’s has installed two of the bright blue boxes in the past six months, one at its store at 127th and Q Streets in Omaha and another in Lincoln.

“A lot of people don’t realize it’s that easy or that anonymous,” she said.

Getting unused prescriptions — particularly opioid painkillers — out of people’s medicine cabinets is seen as a way to get drugs out of circulation that could lead to, or feed, addictions. Last week was Nebraska Drug Overdose Awareness Week.