Security Forces and DEA host Drug Take Back Sept. 26-27

  • Published
  • 82nd Security Forces Squadron
Sheppard AFB, Texas --  The 82nd Security Forces Squadron and the Drug Enforcement Agency are taking back unwanted prescription and over-the counter drugs Sept 26-27.

The 82nd SFS and 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 Friday, Sept. 26 at the Sheppard Clinic from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 27, at the Sheppard Commissary and Sheppard Main Exchange from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

During the last event on April 26, security forces collected 89 pounds. Our total for the previous four events was, 685 pounds of drugs.

Bring your medications for disposal to the above listed locations. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Last April, Americans turned in 642,000 pounds,321 tons, of prescription drugs to more than 5,600 sites operated by the DEA and nearly 4,300 state and local law enforcement partners. In its six previous events, DEA and its partners took in more than 3.1 million pounds,2,054 tons, of pills.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public 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--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. DEA is drafting regulations to implement the Act. Until new regulations are in place, local law enforcement agencies such as the 82nd SFS and the DEA will continue to hold prescription drug take-back events every few months.