Concerned by rising rates of prescription drug abuse, the Drug Enforcement Administration says it will permit consumers to return unused prescription medications like opioid painkillers to pharmacies, the New York Times reports. The move is aimed at helping reduce stockpiles in homes of unneeded medicines, which are often pilfered by teenagers. Under the new regulation, patients and their relatives will be allowed to mail unused prescription drugs to an authorized collector using packages to be made available at pharmacies and other locations, like libraries and senior centers.

The new rule, which will go into effect in a month, covers drugs designated as controlled substances, including opioid painkillers like OxyContin, stimulants like Adderall and depressants like Ativan. Until now, these drugs could not legally be returned to pharmacies. The Controlled Substances Act allowed patients only to dispose of the drugs themselves or to surrender them to law enforcement. “This is big news and long overdue,” said Dr. G. Caleb Alexander, co-director of the Center for Drug Safety and Effectiveness at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “It's baffling that it's so easy to get a prescription for opioids and yet so difficult to dispose of these drugs safely.” Injuries and deaths from prescription drug abuse have soared in recent years.