Wellness

[Katcat1]

Throw them in the trash.  The trash surely will not get high.

[Kachina624]

We also have a day a couple of times a year when you can take unwanted meds to a disposal site. 

[Kachina624]

@hckynutjohn    Do we really want people's drugs in the ground water or washed into a river? 

[RedTop]

I'm in WV, and ALL local police departments and our courthouse have a locked, drug drop off station to dispose of these meds.

[proudlyfromNJ]

We can take them to two of the pharmacies in town.

[Tinkrbl44]

@pdlinda 

Funny, just last week I asked my pharmacist where to dump old prescriptions, since we're not supposed to flush them anymore.  He took the time to look up possibilities in the greater Los Angeles area and the closest to me was 47 miles away!     Since they weren't controlled substances, and driving almost 100 miles round trip isn't practical, he said just wrap them carefully and dump with my regular trash, and forget about it.

So ,,,  I suggest you call a few pharmacists and get their take on what is happening in your state and in your area.   

[hckynutjohn]

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@pdlinda wrote:

@hckynutjohn 

Thanks so much for these ideas.  I hope I never have to use them (hope I have no further major surgeries) but I will pass these ideas to others who might need them.

@pdlinda 

Hopefully you knew my comments were mostly "tongue n cheek" 😉, with a bit of understanding. I have gotten so many "pain meds" over so many decades, I  can't remember what I did with some of them.

Most of them I never used, and after 2008, I will take anti-inflammatory or steroid meds, because of my many Colon bleeding issues. Nothing that has a risk of thinning my blood, or altering in any way, my blood clotting time.

I always filled the prescriptions and passed them on to my wife. With her having so many(13) abdominal surgeries, along with a stroke and a TKR, they were something that helped her.

Right now for me the big opioid problem is not where I dispose of opioids and steroids. That would be the amount of them, laced with Fentanyl, pouring into our country. For me, some 90,000 OD deaths, should be the more immediate issue.

hckynut 

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[Duckncover]

Most pharmacies do have a bin or box for expired or other medications disposal. I saw a woman drop pill containers into the bin while I was waiting for my first vaccine. I know there is also one at the Kroger pharmacy. I don't know why Covid would make them stop using the disposal service, but maybe they will resume it in the future.

[depglass]

I'd verify the safety of the septic tank idea.  In our area the companies that pump the tanks out sell or give this sludge to farmers who have it spread on their fields.  That idea alone is bad enough to absorb mentally, adding opioids just makes it less palatable.  Pardon the pun.

[ALRATIBA]

LOcal Walgreen's has a bin at the pharmacy counter where we can deposit meds for disposal.