Wisconsin Guard Drug Control program part of take-back initiative

The Wisconsin National Guard's Drug Control program was among 80 state agencies to take part in a national collaborative effort sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Agency to collect and dispose of potentially dangerous expired or unused pharmaceutical drugs.

The one-day effort, held Sept. 25, collected more than 4,400 pounds of pharmaceuticals in Wisconsin. The project also emphasized pharmaceutical controlled substance abuse and misuse as well as keeping pharmaceuticals out of the water system.

In the past, local government agencies have offered similar prescription drop-offs, but this Take-Back program is the first at the national level.

"This event took a tremendous amount of planning and partnership with local, state and federal law enforcement in Wisconsin, as well as with community groups," said James Bohn, assistant special agent in charge, DEA Milwaukee.

Discarded pharmaceutical medications were collected at De Forest, Eau Claire, Fond du Lac, Spooner and Wausau on Monday (Sept. 27) and taken by the Wisconsin Guard's Drug Control Program, under law enforcement escort, to the Milwaukee DEA office.

Drug Control Program and DEA personnel transported the discarded medication to Indianapolis on Tuesday (Sept. 28) using a Wisconsin National Guard transportation company vehicle. The DEA incinerated the medications Wednesday (Sept. 29).

"The Wisconsin National Guard provided much needed manpower and equipment to assist in the collection and transportation of several tons of collected pharmaceuticals from around the state," Bohn added. "Their commitment to the mission was instrumental to the success of the overall program and communities all around Wisconsin."

"The Drug Control Program appreciates the opportunity to support DEA in their efforts to remove potentially dangerous controlled substances from our state's medicine cabinets," said Col. Mark Greenwood, Wisconsin's Counterdrug coordinator.

DEA will evaluate the program's results nationwide to determine if the effort should be established on a more permanent basis.

Spc. Megan Burnham contributed to this report.