The Drug Enforcement Agency's 14th Annual National Prescription Drug Take Back Day Oct. 28 offers service members and families a safe, anonymous and secure way to help prevent prescription drug misuse by disposing leftover medications properly.

Nationwide, community organizations will be participating alongside military treatment facilities by hosting events to collect expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs at local drop-off sites free of charge.

Take Back Day events, held twice a year, can help prevent drug addiction and overdose deaths. In 2015, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health reported that 6.4 million Americans abused controlled prescription drugs. Prescription medications with the highest frequency of misuse are amphetamines, codeine, oxymorphone, hydromorphone and hydrocodone. Many times, abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, often from the home medicine cabinet.

"It is very dangerous to have unused prescription drugs sitting in a medicine cabinet, where they can find their way into the wrong hands," said LaNorfeia Parker, deputy director of the Navy Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention program. "Flushing a prescription medication can impact our water supply, but there are other easy and secure ways to address unused medications. Safely and anonymously disposing of these medications through Take Back Day events or approved drop boxes can make a big difference in the health and safety of our Navy community."

The Military Health System established a Drug Take Back program to help service members properly dispose of their prescriptions and over-the-counter medications at all military treatment facility (MTF) pharmacies in United States and U.S. territories. Sailors can find information about whether their MTFs are participating by contacting the hospitals directly.

The Navy's Prescription for Discharge campaign website provides tips for all Navy personnel on the safe and proper use of prescription drugs, offering materials for distribution and display at Navy medical clinics, pharmacies, waiting rooms, barracks, etc. The website also offers resources for Navy leadership, medical personnel and drug abuse prevention personnel to present at safety stand downs, briefings, or community health fairs.

Communities that have provided Take Back Day event information to the Drug Enforcement Agency can be found by visiting https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/ and clicking "Locate a Collection Site Near You."

For more information on preventing prescription drug misuse, visit www.nadap.navy.mil.

For more news from Chief of Naval Personnel, visit www.navy.mil/.