Wellness

[katiescarlett]

There are several national drug disposal days and local law enforcement officers collect the meds at various places like CVS. Our local sheriff's dept. keeps a drop box at their headquarters. That is how I disposed of my old meds and ones I had for my dogs. If memory serves me correctly, you can get the dates on the DEA's website. It is not good to flush them because they get into the water systems and scientists see the effects on aquatic populations. Some drugstores will take them but they charge a disposal fee.

[Dharma_Initiative]

There's a drop box for old pills in the lobby of my local police dept. Check with yours.

Make sure you dispose of old Rx medicine safely. Some medicines can be very harmful and even fatal with just one dose, taken by someone other than who they were prescribed for (or animals). Don't crush up pills and flush or wash down sink!

http://www.fda.gov/drugs/resourcesforyou/consumers/buyingusingmedicinesafely/ensuringsafeuseofmedic...

[chrystaltree]

Call your pharmacy and ask if you can bring them in for disposal. We did that with my mom's and my dad's meds after they passed. I would never throw old meds in the trash because you never know whose rumbling through it and also we have feral cats, racoons and even skunks who get into the trash. I know better but I'll be honest, I have flushed old meds down the toilet.

[RedTop]

Regardless of what they say, I flush mine. I live rural and am on a septic system that gets pumped every 2 years; no concern about contaminating a water supply. Also, it's not exactly like I'm flushing drugs down the toilet every week or every month; the last pills that got flushed were the 7 remaining pain pills from my knee surgery 2 years ago.

Our county has drug collection boxes in the Courthouse year round, but a specific weekend in April, is dedicated to collection of old drugs.

[lovetheboardwalk]

Call your local police department. Many Sheriff offices and police departments have a dropbox for prescription meds. Place them in a plastic bag, remove labels and drop them in the box.

[LilacTree]

I am lucky. One of my daughters works in a hospital conglomerate of six hospitals as an IT. I give all my old prescriptions and pills to her and she takes them to work and disposes of them there.

[tends2dogs]

Thanks for all the feedback! I am going to gather them up and take them to the pharmacy in town that has this service. (found out by calling around) She never mentioned a fee. She said I could bag them or bring them in the original containers.

Thanks again!

[lucymo]

Our Police Department has a depository set up where we can dispose of them. You might check with your PD.

[glmama]

I trash ours. However, I saw on the local news recently that there are several police departments in various counties that have a medicine drop off box, for unwanted or unused meds. Such a great idea! Thankfully, I do not take many meds, but if I did, AND I was concerned about them being around my children or a teen, I would take them to the PD.

[Nikalette]

Call your drug store. Almost all of them accept old meds. Our nursing agency used to give Info for every case we opened on that. You are right. They should not be flushed or thrown away. Hospitals will also take them. But if that is not possible, the FDA recommends the following: Disposal in Household Trash If no medicine take-back program is available in your area, you can also follow these simple steps to dispose of most medicines in the household trash: Mix medicines (do NOT crush tablets or capsules) with an unpalatable substance such as kitty litter or used coffee grounds; Place the mixture in a container such as a sealed plastic bag; and Throw the container in your household trash. Before throwing out your empty pill bottle or other empty medicine packaging, remember to scratch out all information on the prescription label to make it unreadable.