Butler County will be one of a dozen counties to receive an infusion of drug deactivation and disposal pouches from the state Office of Attorney General, after officials identified it as among the counties hardest hit by the opioid epidemic.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro made the announcement Tuesday, saying his office will supply 300,000 of the pouches to participating pharmacies, which will distribute the pouches to everyone receiving a schedule II narcotic like Percocet, oxycodone and fentanyl.

People can put up to 45 unwanted pills in a pouch and add warm water to deactivate the pills, which can then be thrown away.

Shapiro, in comments announcing the program, said that 80 percent of heroin addicts get started through prescription drug abuse, and said that the state’s hardest-hit areas have often been ignored by statewide anti-overdose efforts.

“We hear their pain and today, we’re bringing the fight into small towns and local pharmacies across the state,” Shapiro said.

The pouches will be available at 278 pharmacies across the 12 counties, which include Butler, Lawrence and Mercer.

Last year 4,642 people died of fatal overdoses in Pennsylvania, a 37 percent increase from 2015.