DDRP aims to provide substance abuse education

Published Oct. 26, 2016
By Staff Sgt. Dakota Bergl
434th ARW Public Affairs

GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. -- The Air Force’s Drug Demand Reduction Program isn’t the most exciting program on the base, but it is integral to Airman health and safety.

The assumption might be that the program is only about performing drug testing, however there is much more that goes into drug demand reduction.

Juanita Withrow, 434th Air Refueling Wing drug demand reduction program manager, said the drug testing is only a small percentage of her job. Much of her time is spent educating Airmen on substance abuse prevention.

“I focus more on prevention, educating Airmen on the effects of drugs and helping them avoid substance abuse,” said Withrow. “The numbers show that educating Airmen is working; there has been a noticeable decrease in the number of people using illegal substances in recent years.”

Withrow said she wants to begin setting up an unmanned display around the base during UTAs in order to help educate Airmen about illegal substances.

“I have this display with information about all kinds of different substances that I’d like to set up,” she said. “It would be unmanned so people wouldn’t feel like they had to avoid anyone pushing information at them; they could look at it whenever they had a few minutes.”

Despite preferring to focus on prevention, drug testing is still an important aspect of Withrow’s job. Following collection, the samples must be secured and recorded to avoid tampering before they are sent for testing.

“We have to keep everything tightly controlled,” said Withrow. “We have to keep a strict chain of custody to ensure that nothing can be tampered with or damaged. Each person within that chain is trained in the proper procedures and handling of the samples because anyone might be called to testify in court. We need to be certain that everyone is prepared for that and does their job the same for each sample.”

Withrow also stressed the importance of members reporting any medication they are prescribed as soon as possible to prevent any confusion or possible ramifications.

“If you are prescribed anything you should let the clinic know right away,” she said. “If you are on a prescription and get drug tested your medication might cause a positive. Once that happens, we will look back through your records, and if it was caused by a prescription then we note it and nothing else will happen. It’s much harder to clear up if you don’t report the prescription until after a drug test.”

Withrow also wants Airmen to be aware that marijuana and THC are still federally illegal and shouldn’t be used by service members.

“If we detect THC during a drug test there is no review process,” said Withrow. “We go directly to discipline. THC is legal in certain states but the Air Force still has a strict no tolerance policy regarding its use.”

Withrow concluded with a warning for Airmen about the importance of paying attention to the ingredients in their food and supplements. Due to the increased use of hemp oil and hemp seeds in foods and supplements it is possible for a drug test come back positive for THC by consuming products made with hemp.

“Hemp seed and hemp oil are seen more frequently in products these days,” said Withrow. “Because of this Airmen should check on the contents of supplements they may be considering consuming. In order to ensure military readiness, the ingestion of products containing or products derived from hemp seed or hemp seed oil is prohibited.”

Col. Larry Shaw, 434th Air Refueling Wing commander, echoed Withrow’s sentiments, stressing the importance of reporting new medications and avoiding illegal substances.

“The bottom line is people just need to do what they need to do when it comes to alerting the clinic on their medications; and to not do what they aren’t supposed to do when it comes to illegal drug use,” said Shaw.

The 434th ARW is the largest KC-135R Stratotanker unit in the Air Force Reserve Command. Men and women from the Hoosier Wing routinely deploy around the world in support of the Air Force mission.

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DDRP aims to provide substance abuse education

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