Saturday was "National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day," a day people could dispose of their unused, expired, or unwanted prescriptions at collection sites with no questions asked. And this was the jumping point for President Obama's weekly address about combating drug abuse.

"Here's why that matters," Obama began. "More Americans now die every year from drug overdoses than they do in car crashes." But not due to cocaine or heroine, he emphasized, but from prescription drugs -- drugs young people find in medicine cabinets, not dark alleys.

Because many pain medications are classified similarly to heroin, more and more prescription drug abusers and misusers are later turning to the hard drug. The president indicated that there was a 33% increase in heroin users between 2013 and 2014. 

In Obama's latest budget, funds have been set aside for more drug monitoring programs, equipping first responders, and "expanding medication-assisted treatment programs" in and out of prison. All of this effort, Obama said, is part and parcel to an overhaul of the criminal justice system in America:

In fact, getting smarter about how we address substance use disorders is a vital part of reforming our criminal justice system. Rather than keep spending billions of taxpayer dollars on needlessly long prison sentences for nonviolent drug offenders, we could save money and get better outcomes by getting treatment to those who need it. And we could use some of the savings to make sure the brave men and women of law enforcement have the resources they need to go after drug kingpins and violent gangs, disrupt the flow of drugs into our country, and address the real threats to our communities. 

"With no other disease do we expect people to wait until they’re a danger to themselves or others to self-diagnose and seek treatment," the president continued. "So we should approach abuse as an opportunity to intervene, not incarcerate."

In his call for prevention and treatment of drug abuse, Obama announced a new head to his National Drug Control Policy office in Michael Botticelli -- "a man in long-term recovery himself."

"He talks about it openly and honestly, precisely to strike down the shame and stigma that too often keep people from seeking care before it’s too late," Obama added.

The address ends with a promise of speaking more on this subject in the coming weeks.