SedonaEye.com Star Pet Columnist Poco Diablo McGuire wants his 4 Paws Up pals to encourage everybody to take advantage of the Food and Drug Administration’s April 28 semi-annual National Prescription Drug Take Back Day when people can bring leftover prescription drugs to police departments, drugstores and other collection sites. Like Poco says, “It’s good to keep my 4 Paws Up friends and families medicine cab’nets safest ever!”
Sedona AZ (April 16, 2018) – On April 28, 2018, the DEA will sponsor its semi-annual National Prescription Drug Take Back Day when people can bring their leftover prescription drugs to police departments, drugstores and other collection sites.
Walmart gives pharmacy customers powder called Dispose Rx that turns solid when mixed into a pill bottle with warm water, making it safe to throw it away.
Rite Aid sells envelopes people can use to return extra medications
Is your medicine cabinet full of expired drugs or medications you no longer use? Your medicine is for you. What’s safe for you might be harmful for someone else. You can dispose of your expired, unwanted, or unused medicines through a drug take back program — or you can do it at home.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) sponsors National Prescription Drug Take Back Day in communities nationwide. Many communities also have their own drug take back programs. Check with your local law enforcement officials to find a location near you or with the DEA to find a DEA-authorized collector in your community.
You can also check with your pharmacist. Some pharmacies have mail back programs and disposal kiosks for unused medicines.
How to Dispose of Medicines at Home
There are two ways to dispose of 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. Remember, many sewer systems are unable to filter drugs completely, as are many wastewater treatment plants. If in doubt, take drugs back.
How will you know? Check the label or the patient information leaflet with your medicine. Or consult the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s list of medicines recommended for disposal by flushing.
Sedona Police Department Take Back Drug Day September 2014 joins the 2018 Take Back Day from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday. See you there!
Disposing medicines in household trash: Almost all medicines can be thrown into your household trash. These include prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs in pills, liquids, drops, patches, creams, and inhalers.
Follow these steps:
- 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 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. Hint: An easy way to remove labels is to run through the dishwasher or leave overnight in warm water.
If you have a question about your medicine, ask your health care provider or pharmacist.
Disposing of Fentanyl Patches
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.
Disposing of Inhaler Products
One environmental concern involves inhalers used by people who have asthma or other breathing problems, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Read handling instructions on the labeling of inhalers and aerosol products. These products could be dangerous if punctured or thrown into a fire or incinerator. To properly dispose of these products and follow local regulations and laws, contact your trash and recycling facility.
Flushing Drugs and the Water Supply
Some people wonder if it’s okay to flush certain medicines. 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.
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Yup – Bingo’s mah name but the info you laid out here, Poco D, also deserves a BINGO! We dun’t need having them old bottles of stuff around, so wake up two-footers. Now the chance to dump ’em! (NOT unwanted pets tho)
Congratulations to the most successful Take Back Drug day in U.S. history! People answered the call to rid their homes of prescriptions drugs and old medicines.
Today we are saying goodbye to Maddie, our Grandfather’s puggle, who came into our lives because someone else couldn’t keep loving her. Maddie has cancer and she can’t go on any longer, so we celebrated her life yesterday and many people came to say they loved her and will miss her too. People are saying kind things on Facebook and we loved Harley McGuire and want you to know, Poco Diablo, that Maddie will find Harley and will say hello to him across the Rainbow Bridge today.
Keep up the good work Poco D because Harley is very proud of you.
Maddie, our life with a puggle was wonderful.
Gee whiskers we knows how very very sorrowful tis when we must say goodbye to dear furry friends. Mommy cried when she read to me about your loss of Dear Maddie. Even tho Harley McGuire only lasted a couple of months of my life in my new forever home, we played and had some good times. We will try our best to have happy thoughts bout Maddie and Harley frolicking on the other side of that Rainbow Bridge but furever keep happy memories in hearts ever day we lives here on erth.