SFS hosts Drug Take-Back event this weekend

  • Published
  • By Mark Wyatt
  • 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. --  The 66th Security Forces Squadron will hold a one-day Drug Take-Back event April 30 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Army and Air Force Exchange Service lobby, Building 1725 and at the installation's two gates.

In conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Hanscom Prescription Drug Take-Back Day will offer members of the Hanscom community a safe, secure and convenient venue to dispose unwanted, unused or expired prescription medication. Officials cannot accept liquids or needles.

"The 66th Security Forces Squadron has played host to numerous 'Take-Back' events in the past four years and collected more than 470 pounds of prescription pills during that time," said Investigator Brandon Z. Johnson, 66th Security Forces Squadron. "Based on feedback from the community after last fall's collection, we are expanding the number of locations that we will accept medications at on Saturday."

According to the 2015 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's national survey on drug use and health, there were 6.5 million Americans 12 years and older who illegally used prescription drugs.

"Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to misuse and abuse," Johnson said. "Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs."

The Partnership for a Drug Free America estimates that each day approximately 2,500 teenagers use prescription drugs to get high for the first time. Studies by the DEA indicate that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from home medicine cabinets.

According to DEA officials, disposing of unused medicines by flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash may pose potential safety and health hazards.

Special Agent Michael J. Ferguson, DEA New England Field Division, who is leading this year's effort, said Covanta Energy will dispose of the collected medications at several of their Energy-from-Waste facilities located throughout New England.

Last year more than 700,000 pounds of prescription drugs were collected at more than 3,800 sites operated nationally by the DEA and its thousands of state and local law enforcement partners. When those totals are combined with the previous 'Take-Back' collections, the DEA has accepted more than 4.8 million pounds of prescription pills.

For questions concerning the National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day at Hanscom, or those unable to dispose of medications on the scheduled date, contact Johnson at 781-225-5618.

For a list of additional collection sites available in other communities, visit the DEA website at www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov.