Prescription Drug Abuse Is a Serious Problem

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has scheduled another National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, Oct. 29, to provide a venue for people who want to dispose of unwanted and unused prescription drugs. 

The Grafton Police Department in cooperation with DEA will be accepting these items from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. that day. Unwanted or unused prescription drugs may be dropped off in the training room located on the second floor of Headquarters.

The following information may be found on DEA’s Office of Diversion Control web site located at http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/index.html#ar:

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Many Americans do not know how to properly dispose of their unused medicine, often flushing them down the toilet or throwing them away, both of which can be safety and health hazards.

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

More than seven million Americans currently abuse prescription drugs, according to the 2009 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Each day, approximately 2,500 teens use prescription drugs to get high for the first time according to the Partnership for a Drug Free America. 

Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including the home medicine cabinet.

DEA, in conjunction with state and local law enforcement agencies throughout the United States, conducted National Prescription Drug Take Back Days on Sept. 25, 2010 and April 25. Nearly, 4,000 state and local law enforcement agencies throughout the nation participated in these events, collecting more than 309 tons of pills.

Four days after last fall’s Take-Back Day, Congress passed legislation amending the Controlled Substances Act to allow the DEA to develop a process for people to safely dispose of their prescription drugs. DEA immediately began developing this process after President Obama signed the Safe and Secure Drug Disposal Act of 2010 on Oct. 12, 2010.

Until that process is complete, however, DEA will continue to hold Take Back Days every six months.

Anyone with questions for the Chief’s Column may submit them by mail to the Grafton Police Department, 28 Providence Road, Grafton, MA 01519. You may also email your questions or comments to chief@graftonpolice.com. Please include an appropriate subject line, as I do not open suspicious email for obvious reasons. 

Normand A. Crepeau, Jr. is Grafton's Chief of Police.