National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day planned

  • Published
  • By 66th Security Forces Squadron
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. --  The 66th Security Forces Squadron and Drug Enforcement Administration will provide Hanscom personnel an opportunity Sept. 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to prevent prescription drug abuse and theft by providing a turn in collection point on base.

The National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is scheduled to occur at the Army and Air Force Exchange Service lobby and will provide a safe and secure venue for anyone who would like to dispose unwanted, unused or expired prescription medication. DEA cannot accept liquids or needles.

Since 2009, DEA has collected more than four million pounds of pills from nearly 6,000 state and local law enforcement agencies through earlier collection events.

"Hanscom has participated in the 'Take-Back' nine times over the past three years and has collected more than 300 pounds of prescription pills at Hanscom," said Investigator Timothy Roberts, 66th Security Forces Squadron.

Last spring more than 780,000 pounds of prescription drugs were collected at more than 4,000 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, DEA has accepted more than 4.2 million pounds of prescription pills.

According to Roberts, the initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue.

"Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to misuse and abuse," he 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."

According to the 2013 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.

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 the home medicine cabinet.

In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines--flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash--pose potential safety and health hazards.

"The DEA is in the process of approving new regulations that implement the Safe and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010, which amends the Controlled Substances Act to allow a user of controlled substance medications to dispose of them by delivering them to entities authorized by the Attorney General," Roberts said.

For questions concerning the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day at Hanscom, contact Investigator Timothy Roberts at 781-225-5624.

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