Transcript Document
National Take Back Initiative III On October 29 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Local Law Enforcement & the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public another opportunity to prevent pill abuse & theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. Bring your medications for disposal. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked. Last April, Americans turned in 376,593 pounds—188 tons—of prescription drugs at nearly 5,400 sites operated by the DEA and more than 3,000 state and local law enforcement partners. • Initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines 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 related accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. • Studies show majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family/friends, including the home medicine cabinet. • Disposal Methods—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash— 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. DEA has begun drafting regulations to implement the Act, a process that can take as long as 24 months. Until new regulations are in place, local law enforcement & the DEA will continue to hold prescription drug take-back events every few months. NTBI I National Minnesota NTBI II 245,506 lbs (122 tons) 4,741 lbs 376,593 lbs (188 tons) 2,669 lbs NTBI III Registration Deadline October 7, 2011 Summer Schwab 612-344-4136 Prescription Drug Abuse Crises Prescription Drug Abuse More Americans abuse prescription drugs than the number of: Cocaine, Hallucinogen, Heroin, and Inhalant abusers COMBINED!!! Past Year Initiates for Specific Drugs Persons Aged 12 or Older 2009 Numbers in the Thousands 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 0 Source: 2009 NSDUH survey Avg. 6,027 persons per day initiating with pain relievers Teens and Their Attitudes Every day 2,100 teens use Rx drugs to get high for the first time 60% of teens who have abused Rx painkillers did so before the age of 15 1 in 7 teens admit to abusing Rx drugs to get high in the past year Source: 2009 NSDUH & Partnership for Drug Free America 56% believe that Rx drugs are easier to get than illegal drugs 62% believe that teens get Rx drugs from their own family’s medicine cabinet – for FREE Parents and Their Attitudes (Fairfax school presentation) • Parents are still not discussing the risks of abusing prescription and over-the-counter medicines – Increase in parent / teen discussions about the risks of illegal drugs, but not prescription drugs – Parents have a misperception of Rx drugs too. – Only 24% of teens report that their parents talked with them about the dangers of prescription drugs or use of medications outside of a doctor’s supervision – Just 18% of teens say their parents discuss the risks of abusing over-the-counter (OTC) cough medicine SOURCE: 2008 Partnership Attitude and Tracking Study (PATS) Released FEB 2009 Today and Beyond Hydrocodone Carisoprodol Alprazolam OxyContin 80mg Oxycodone 30 mg Questions?