Safe drug disposal offered Published Oct. 19, 2011 By 81st Medical Group Public Affairs KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- All Department of Defense beneficiaries are encouraged to participate in a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration "Drug Take-Back Day" Oct. 29 to turn in potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs in an effort to prevent pill abuse and theft. The joint DEA and 81st Training Wing program is 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Keesler Exchange for members of the DOD community. The service is free and anonymous. Controlled, noncontrolled and over-the-counter medications aree accepted. However, no syringes, needles, opened vials or anything that may have blood-borne pathogens may be turned in. According to the DEA, Americans turned in 376,593 pounds of prescription drugs last April at nearly 5,400 sites operated by the DEA and more than 3,000 state and local law enforcement partners. The DEA stated, "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." The DEA says 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--pose potential safety and health hazards. 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 U.S. 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 DEAis drafting regulations to implement the act, but until enacted, local law enforcement agencies and the DEA will continue to hold prescription drug take-back events every few months.