With the help of several state and local partners, the DEA held its first annual Prescription Drug Take-Back Day as a nationwide effort to reduce the dangers of prescription drug misuse and diversion. With no questions asked, anyone from the community was welcome to visit the designated collection sites that included public health facilities, law enforcement agencies, government centers, pharmacies, or other community organizations to drop off unwanted and expired prescription medications.

The Prescription Drug Take-Back Day was a way to allow residents to safely dispose of their unused medications, thereby protecting the environment and reducing the risk of prescription drug abuse. According to recent national studies, most adolescents and young adults who admit to abusing prescription drugs report that they obtained their drugs for free from a friend or family member. Too often, forgotten medications languish in the home medicine cabinet, where they eventually and unknowingly are stolen. By responsibly dispensing their unused medications, Americans throughout the nation had collectively prevented these drugs from being abused and reduced the risk of harm among their families and communities.

The DEA reports that in the New England area alone, 340 partner agencies helped operate 401 drop-off locations, of which collected a total 25,810 pounds in unwanted, unused, or expired prescription medications. Between the six New England states, Massachusetts produced the greatest amount of returned prescription medications (8,550 pounds). In Arizona, the DEA reported having collected more than 6,200 medications from residents at 74 different collection sites. Law enforcement from California’s Orange County and the greater Los Angeles area announced on Wednesday that the campaign had accumulated an overwhelming 8,190 pounds of unused prescription drugs from their various collections sites throughout southern California alone. Among the Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands areas, the DEA reportedly collected 1,004 pounds of unused medications from residents thanks to the vast support of the public to keep prescription drugs from falling into the wrong hands and into the black market.

The types of prescription drugs collected included anything from Adderall to Zoloft and everything in between. Drugs like powerful narcotic pain relievers and anti-anxiety medications are highly susceptible to abuse and diversion when left unattended in the home. After the impressive national turnout, the DEA will be properly destroying the collected medications not only to circumvent their likelihood for abuse, addiction, and overdose, but also to protect the health and environmental safety issues that affect the wellbeing of communities. The massive turnout also demonstrates how prescription pain relievers and other medications are being prescribed at a rapidly increasing rate, and that the abuse of these drugs has jumped to epidemic proportions in just a few years.

Source: Drug Enforcement Administration, Tons of Prescription Drugs Collected, September 27, 2010

A recent article in the Times Daily featured the findings of a recent survey by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) which indicated that nearly one in 10 high school seniors have abused prescription painkillers. The most recent reports out of the DEA suggest nearly seven million Americans are abusing prescription drugs, up from 3.8 million in 2000.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), in 2008, 15.4 percent of all 12th graders throughout the nation reported using a prescription drug illegally within the past year.

Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the NIDA, noted that 10.5 percent of 12th graders reported using Vicodin for non-medical reasons. Another 4.5 percent said they used OxyContin without a prescription. Both drugs are powerful pain medications, which are the most popular choice of abuse among teens.

The problem is growing to such levels in Waynesboro, Tenn., that Police Chief Keith Reeves reported that the City Commission approved funding for school resource officers. "We’ve had several incidents where pills were brought to school, and they weren’t brought by a seller or pusher, but from the students’ homes," Reeves said.

Beyond the high school problem, use and abuse is also impacting younger students. In fact, 12-, 13- and 14-year olds are being found on prescription medications for which they have no prescription. The addictions are severe and many of these individuals believe they cannot live without the meds. In truth, many will die if they do not quit this dangerous habit.