Security Forces and DEA to host "Drug Take-Back" Day April 26-27

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  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  The 82nd Security Forces Squadron and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public another opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription and over-the-counter drugs on April 26 at the Sheppard Clinic from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and on April 27 at the Sheppard Commissary and Sheppard Main Exchange from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
 
Bring your medications for disposal to the above listed locations. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

"We don't ask any questions," said Raymond Ramsey, 82nd SFS detective. "Once it's in there, we bag it up and deliver it to DEA headquarters."

Last October, Americans turned in 552,161 pounds (276 tons) of prescription drugs at over 5,600 sites operated by the DEA and nearly 4,300 state and local law enforcement partners. In its four previous Take Back events, the DEA and its partners took in over 1.5 million pounds, nearly 775 tons of pills.

"We've netted about 246 pounds of drugs," Ramsey said. "Nobody else does this in the entire county."

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. 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.

Studies show 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, such as flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash both pose potential safety and health hazards.

Four days after the first event, Congress passed the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010, which amends the Controlled Substances Act to allow an "ultimate user" of controlled substance medications to dispose of them by delivering them to entities authorized by the Attorney General to accept them. The Act also allows the Attorney General to authorize long term care facilities to dispose of their residents' controlled substances in certain instances.

The DEA is drafting regulations to implement the act. Until new regulations are in place, local law enforcement agencies like the 82nd Security Forces Squadron and the DEA will continue to hold prescription drug take-back events every few months.

"It will keep drugs out of the environment," Ramsey said. "At present we are the only outlet for people to get rid of unexpired drugs."