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scales of justicePill PickupAGFC Wildlife Officers ‘Take Back’ Prescription DrugsBy RANDY ZELLERSWhen people think aboutdrug abuse, cocaine, heroinand methamphetamine arethe first things that come tomind. But some of the worstcases involve medicationsprescribed by doctors thatend up in the wrong hands.“Prescription drugsare becoming a problem,particularly with teenagers,”said Col. Mike Knoedl, chiefof the AGFC EnforcementDivision. “They find leftoversin their parents’ medicinecabinets and take them or sellthem to friends.”The AGFC teamed upwith the Take Back campaignOct. 29 to help keep these drugs out of kids’ hands. This is thethird year AGFC officers have manned locations on Take Back Dayto gather old prescription drugs and dispose of them properly.“We asked to be a part of the program because protectingour youth from bad influences is a key to promoting the nextgeneration of outdoors enthusiasts,” Knoedl said. “Bad influenceslike drugs aren’t just dangerous, they’re another deterrent to healthyoutdoors activities.”Don’t Flush FisheriesNot only does Take Back keep prescription drugs out ofchildren’s hands, it keeps them out of the water supply.“Flushing drugs down the toilet doesn’t make them disappear,”said Mark Oliver, chief of the AGFC Fisheries Division. “Thosemedications often can’t be removed at water treatment facilitiesbefore the water is released back to the environment.”Oliver says the impacts of hormone-based medications arewell documented. Fish and amphibians in water near somemetropolitan areas have been found with both male and femalesex organs as result of hormones in medications flushed down theAGFC wildlife officers Crystal Blakely (left) and Tracey Blake collect prescriptiondrugs at War Memorial Stadium.drain. He also explained thatwhen insects, crustaceansand forage fish consumechemicals from medications,those chemicals stay in theirsystems and are transferredto the species that eat them.As the process continues upthe food chain, the chemicalsbecome concentrated.“The large predator fishthat we enjoy – such ascrappie, catfish and bass –could transfer those chemicalloads right back to peopleif we continue to polluteour water supply with thesemedications.”The program isn’t just aonce-a-year event. Permanent Take Back stations are popping upacross the state to accept old prescription drugs. For more on theprogram and for a list of locations, visit www.artakeback.org.Part of the JobKnoedl often is asked why AGFC wildlife officers are busy withanti-drug work instead of being in the woods nonstop. He explainsthat, although most of wildlife officers’ time is spent enforcingwildlife regulations, they have to look at the big picture of theoutdoors.“A lot of people don’t realize that many meth labs, marijuanapatches and other drug operations are found in the woods,”Knoedl said. “Many of these operations leave toxic chemicalsor dangerous conditions behind for the wildlife and hunters.We’ve run across many booby traps around the operations we’vediscovered on public land. If that had been a hunter, angler orhiker that found those traps instead of a trained officer, the resultscould have been deadly.”34ARKANSAS WILDLIFE NOVEMBER • DECEMBER 2011
partingTHOUGHTSGreat Expectations?Television Can Play Tricks on OutdoorsmenBy Jeff Williamsremember attending a NationalI Basketball Association exhibition gamewhen I was in college, shortly after SidneyMoncrief graduated from the Universityof Arkansas and landed a spot with theMilwaukee Bucks.The game was in Barnhill Arena at theUA. I don’t remember who the Bucks wereplaying but I do remember walking by thecourt and being amazed by their size andheight. They were the first NBA playersI’d seen outside a TV screen.The same thing happened when Iwatched the Oakland Raiders playTennessee during the Oilers’ only seasonin Memphis. I knew they were big fromwatching TV games, but in person theywere massive.When we see these events only ontelevision, our perception is thrown outof whack. Something similar happenswhen we watch outdoor shows. A day’saction – and sometimes events spreadover days or weeks – often is compressedinto a 30-minute show that becomes evenshorter and quicker when advertisementstake their cut.It’s easy to get carried away by all theaction but when we think about whatwe’re watching on these programs, werealize it’s a strange world. Everyone on aduck hunt gets a limit in a few minutes.Fish are caught as fast as they can belanded. We know that’s not how it worksbut it’s easy to forget after watching acouple of these videos back to back. Irealize advertising can drive content and,after all, who wants to watch video of ahunter failing to get a deer or an anglergetting skunked?This issue of Arkansas Wildlife includesan article about realistic expectations fordeer season, depending on where peoplehunt, how they hunt, habitat and otherfactors. In other words, if you’re lookingfor a bulky 12-point, it’s best to huntwhere that kind of deer lives. If you wanta doe, there are places and methods thatincrease your odds of success. As folks saytoday, keep it real.With impressions of instant gratificationin the back of our head, we may feelourselves getting a little antsy if wedon’t see a buck within a few minutes ofclimbing a stand or if we don’t get a strikeafter the first few casts.Today’s outdoor programs are meantto be entertaining, and it’s fun to watchhunters bag pheasant after pheasant oranglers reel in bluegill hand over fist.Someone probably will write or call to tellme about a fantastic hunting or fishingtrip when game was falling like dominoes.Yes, it happens, but it’s not the rule and it’snot what we should expect from every trip.Anticipation and great expectationsare good things to pack when we headoutdoors; in fact, they’re necessities. Butwe also need a pocketful of reality.Photo by Mike Wintroath.NOVEMBER • DECEMBER 2011ARKANSAS WILDLIFE35
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