DEA's Tenth Pill Take Back Event Yields Fruitful Results in South Carolina

Contact Person: Chuvalo Truesdell (404) 893-7124                                      

COLUMBIA, SC. – South Carolinians participating in the United States Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA’s) tenth National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day Initiative (NTBI) held on Saturday, September 26, 2015, turned in 5,320 pounds of unwanted or expired medications for safe and proper disposal at sites set up throughout the state. This amount  exceeded the previous statewide total during the last event, which yielded 4,776 pounds.

“Daniel R. Salter, the Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the DEA Atlanta Field Division commented, “DEA’s tenth Prescription Drug Take-Back campaign was a huge success both locally and nationally. While South Carolinians turned in 5,320 pounds of unwanted or expired medications, nationally, more than 720,365 pounds of expired and unwanted prescription medications were collected in more than 5,000 sites that were available across the United States. The local amount collected was the third highest total collected out of the ten previous Take-Back events. I would like to thank the multitude of partners (both law enforcement and non-law enforcement) who worked tirelessly to make this event another great success.”

The NTBI addresses a crucial public safety and public health issue. According to the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 6.5 million Americans abused controlled prescription drugs.  That same study showed that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.  The DEA’s NTBI events are also a significant piece of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy’s prescription drug abuse prevention strategy.

SAC Salter encourages parents, along with their children, to educate themselves about the dangers of legal and illegal drugs by visiting DEA’s interactive websites at www.justhinktwice.com, www.GetSmartAboutDrugs.com and www.dea.gov.

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