National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day has come and gone as of Oct. 23, but awareness of safe prescription drug disposal continues year-round on the UO campus.
According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is meant to prevent both drug addictions and deaths due to overdoses. Take back events aim to educate people on the importance of proper prescription drug disposal in an effort to combat addiction.
Lane County evidence technician Cari Soong said it’s important to maintain take-back disposal sites around Eugene. Participating in National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day helps support wellness in the community, she said.
“It’s really important for us to help folks get rid of unwanted, unused medications that are just sitting around their house,” Soong said. “They’re a hazard to the environment. They’re a hazard to people who might take them without needing them and develop addictions or feed their addictions.”
Soong said take-back events work to stop addiction before it starts and that the Eugene community is doing a better job than they used to of properly disposing of unwanted medications.
“We take in hundreds of pounds of medications a month,” Soong said. “Having it in Eugene is really important to us because it hits so many people that live here that we serve.”
According to University Health Services executive director Debra Beck, the University of Oregon has a prescription drug take-back drop off located by the pharmacy in the UHS building. Beck said it’s important to offer take-back programs for unwanted and unused prescription drugs. She said an important aspect of these take-back drop offs is keeping medications out of the hands of unintended recipients.
“You don’t want unused medications to go to the unintended recipient,” Beck said. “If they’re laying around, it’s not only a risk that people would misuse them, it’s also a risk that people could accidentally overdose on them.”
Beck said accidental overdoses could happen in the case of children accessing medications unintended for them. She also said using prescriptions illegally can impact the way that intentionally prescribed medications can work in people’s bodies.
“When people are taking anything that’s not prescribed to them or is a substance that is non-prescription, it can affect things that they take legally,” Beck said.
UO Prevention Services director Kerry Frazee said the majority of misused prescription drugs are used by individuals who are not prescribed that medication. She said the Prevention Services office focuses on education and outreach regarding prescription drugs described as “study drugs” that many students believe will help them focus. It aims to share myths and facts about the prescription drugs seen by some as ways to enhance study time and hopes to give students the skills they need to avoid falling into behaviors perpetuated by their perception of “study drugs.”
“We do a lot of awareness around how to study smart and study in safe ways,” Frazee said.
Beck said the online Kognito training is a resource that can help prevent substance abuse. This is training that simulates conversations and situations in which students and staff can learn about how to reach out and provide help to those around them who may be struggling with mental health or substance use.
“Tools like Kognito, knowing how to be a friend and maybe getting resources on how to help a friend going through a challenging time, hopefully without needing to use substances, is something that’s important,” Frazee said.
Other resources and events from the Substance Abuse Prevention Education office include “Study Smart” programming and “Stress Less” tabeling events hosted to educate students on how to study without the use of non-prescription drugs.
Frazee said the era of COVID-19 has provided “a challenge to all of us to be looking out for each other and to create a community of care.”
“We’re here for each other, we’re here as a community, and we all can find different ways to take responsibility for looking out for each other,” Frazee said.
