A prescription drug take back event took place Sunday at the Evergreen shopping plaza in Monsey that helped residents dispose of leftover prescription pills.

Ramapo police, the Rockland Sheriff's Office and the Rockland Department of Mental Health hosted the event.

Often times, when people are prescribed painkillers like Vicodin or oxycontin they will have pills left over after treatment, which increases the risk of kids getting a hold of those highly addictive medications.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than half a million people have died from opioid overdoses in a decade. Officials say Rockland County is seeing an upward trend.

"We have seen in Rockland County an increase in opioid abuse," said Ramapo Police Sgt. Andres Sanchez. "People that get injured, and they get prescribed these opioids, and they see the feeling that they get from these medications, and they get addicted to it that way."

Janet Sliva, of Rockland Substance Abuse Services, explained that the consequences are devastating.

"Once you're addicted, I've seen a lot of people lose their family, their friends, isolation, they've lost jobs, they've lost their dreams," she says.

Many of those who become addicted grew up in stable homes and Sliva said they don't intend to get hooked on painkillers.

"A lot of times it starts with experimentation, and that's why today's important because we want to get those things out of the house," she says.

Police also stressed the importance of the event.

"We don't want kids to possibly get into the medicine cabinet," Sanchez said.

The event also offered an environmentally friendly way to throw away the unused and expired drugs. Organizers explained the drugs don’t belong in the garbage or in the water. They will be taken to Poughkeepsie where they will be destroyed.