Wednesday October 23, 2019 Saturday October 26 2019 = National Prescription Drug Take Back Day
The disposal service is free and anonymous, with no questions asked.
The National Prescription Drug Take Back Day aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications.
According to the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 9.9 million Americans misused controlled prescription drugs. The study shows that a majority of abused prescription drugs were obtained from family and friends, often from the home medicine cabinet.
On Saturday, October 26, between 10 AM and 2 PM, collection sites across the US will take all kinds of medications, no questions asked. Google made this map that will continue to be updated with collection sites to help you find a convenient location.
Too often, unused prescription drugs find their way into the wrong hands. That's dangerous and often tragic. That's why it was great to see thousands of folks from across the country clean out their medicine cabinets and turn in - safely and anonymously - a record amount of prescription drugs.
The April 2019 Take Back Day brought in 937,443 pounds (468.72 tons) of unused or expired prescription medication. This brings the total amount of prescription drugs collected by DEA since the fall of 2010 to 11,816,393 pounds.
Before disposing of prescription medicines using a drug take back option, be sure to remove all personal information on the label of pill bottles or medicine packaging.
If you can't make it this time, you can always go to Google Maps (https://www.google.com/maps) and type in "drug disposal near me" to find your nearest drug disposal site throughout the year.
What Items Are Not Accepted at Take Back Events?
Keep in mind that these items generally are not accepted at the drop box. Check with the collector ahead of time to determine what items are specifically not accepted.
Needles or other sharps
Asthma inhalers
Mercury thermometers
Iodine-containing medications
Illicit drugs or substances (including marijuana which is still a schedule 1 drug under federal law), and any prescription medications obtained illegally.
How to Dispose of Medicines at Home:
When a take-back option is not readily available, there are two ways to dispose of prescription and over-the counter (OTC) medicine, depending on the drug.
Flushing medicines:
Because some medicines could be especially harmful to others, they have specific directions to immediately flush them down the sink or toilet when they are no longer needed, and a take-back option is not readily available. Some prescription drugs - such as powerful narcotic pain medicines and other controlled substances - have instructions for flushing to reduce the danger of overdose from unintentional or illegal use. One example is the fentanyl patch. This adhesive patch delivers a strong pain medicine through the skin. Even after a patch is used, a lot of the medicine remains. That's why the drug comes with instructions to flush used or leftover patches.
Flushing Drugs and the Water Supply:
Some people wonder if it's okay to flush certain medicines when a take-back option is not readily available. There are concerns about the small levels of drugs that may be found in surface water, such as rivers and lakes, and in drinking water supplies. "The main way drug residues enter water systems is by people taking medicines and then naturally passing them through their bodies," says Raanan Bloom, Ph.D., an environmental assessment expert at the FDA. "Many drugs are not completely absorbed or metabolized by the body and can enter the environment after passing through wastewater treatment plants." The FDA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency take the concerns of flushing certain medicines in the environment seriously. Still, there has been no sign of environmental effects caused by flushing recommended drugs. In fact, the FDA published a paper to assess this concern (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28787777), finding negligible risk of environmental effects caused by flushing recommended drugs.
Remove the drugs from their original containers and mix them with something undesirable, such as used coffee grounds, dirt, or cat litter. This makes the medicine less appealing to children and pets and unrecognizable to someone who might intentionally go through the trash looking for drugs.
Put the mixture in something you can close (a re-sealable zipper storage bag, empty can, or other container) to prevent the drug from leaking or spilling out.
Throw the container in the garbage.
Scratch out all your personal information on the empty medicine packaging to protect your identity and privacy. Throw the packaging away.
