Purpose Half of postoperative patients are prescribed an opioid, but a majority do not store or dispose of them properly thus risking diversion. We examined the efficacy of an opioid educational pamphlet addressing opioid weaning, storage, and disposal. We hypothesized that the pamphlet would increase the rate of proper opioid disposal, storage, and weaning. Methods This prospective before and after study was conducted at UBC Hospital in primary total hip or knee arthroplasty patients. Adults with American Society of Anesthesiologists physical class I-III, with no addiction history and consuming B 30 mg of morphine equivalents daily were enrolled in the study. Two groups received similar standard management, except the intervention group additionally received the opioid education pamphlet. Patients were contacted four weeks postoperatively to complete a survey. The primary endpoint was to evaluate proper opioid disposal rates. Secondary endpoints were to evaluate opioid storage and weaning rates. Results Two hundred twenty-six patients were enrolled and 172 (76%) completed the survey. Among patients who had discontinued opioids, rates of proper disposal increased from 2/42 (5%) to 12/45 (27%) in those receiving the pamphlet (difference in proportions, 22%; 95% confidence interval (CI), 5 to 38; P = 0.005). Secure opioid storage did not improve in those receiving the opioid pamphlet [before, 18/86 (21%) vs after, 20/86 (23%); difference in proportions, 3%; 95% CI, -11 to 15; P = 0.713]. The proportion of patients weaned from opioids was unchanged by the pamphlet [before, 42/86 (49%) vs after, 45/86 (52%); P = 0.735]. Conclusion The introduction of an education pamphlet significantly improved self-reported proper opioid disposal rates in postoperative patients. RésuméObjectif Un opioïde est prescrit en postopératoire à près de la moitié des patients, mais la majorité d'entre eux ne les conserve pas ni ne les élimine de façon appropriée, ce qui expose au risque de détournement des médicaments. Nous avons examiné l'efficacité d'un dépliant éducatif sur les opioïdes, leur sevrage, conservation et élimination. Nous avons émis l'hypothèse que le dépliant augmenterait les taux de pratique adéquate d'élimination, conservation et sevrage aux opioïdes. Méthodes Cette étude prospective avant et après a été menée à l'hô pital UBC avec des patients ayant subi une arthroplastie de première intention de hanche ou de genou.