Keesler offers prescription drug disposal Published Oct. 18, 2013 By Master Sgt. Shawn Kraus 81st Diagnostics and Therapeutics Squadron KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- The 81st Training Wing and the Drug Enforcement Administration are giving the public an opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Oct. 26. Medications may be brought for disposal to the Keesler Base Exchange main entrance. The service is free and anonymous for all Department of Defense beneficiaries, and no questions will be asked. Controlled, non-controlled and over-the-counter medications will be accepted. Exceptions are syringes, needles, opened vials or anything that may have blood-borne pathogens. In April, the DEA reported that 742,497 pounds - 371 tons - of prescription drugs were turned in at nearly 5,829 sites operated by the DEA and more than 4,312 state and local law-enforcement partners. When added to the collections from DEA's previous five take-back events, more than 2.8 million pounds --1,409 tons -- of prescription medications have been removed from circulation. Officials note that 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. Recent 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 disposing of unused medicines by flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash may pose potential safety and health hazards. Four days after the first take-back event in September 2010, 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, but until new regulations are in place, local law-enforcement agencies and the DEA will continue to hold prescription drug take-back events every few months. In addition to the DEA take-back programs, the Keesler Pharmacy accepts non-controlled medication throughout the year. For more information, contact a member of the pharmacy staff.