Getting Rid of Old Drugs

The Virginia Prescription Drug Take-Back Task Force will hold it's second annual Drug Take-Back Day on Saturday, April 30th.  Virginians will be invited to drop off old or unused prescription drugs at various locations around the state.  The round-up keeps drugs out of the hands of people who might abuse them and it prevents drugs from getting into the water supply.  Drug residue in public waterways is a growing concern in the U.S.  More than two tons of drugs were turned in during the first drug take-back in September.

Great idea.  How, then, do we properly dispose of drugs when it's not Drug Take-Back Day?  The details are disappointingly sparse.  The advice from the Food and Drug Administration pretty much reads as follows:  remove the medicine from it's container and throw the pills in the trash.

Well, they do recommend sealing the pills in a plastic bag with some trash or kitty litter.  Why?  From the FDA's advisory, "The medication will be less appealing to children and pets, and unrecognizable to people who may intentionally go through your trash."


Are there really people in my neighborhood, or for that matter, on the planet, willing to dig through garbage to find and ingest unidentified pills that might do who knows what to them?  Would such a person even qualify as human? Just asking...

So, the grand plan for disposing of unwanted medicines involves throwing them in the garbage, where they will, inevitably, work their way into the environment? With pharmaceuticals a part of everyone's lives these days, I suspect there will need to be a better drug disposal policy.

Can I at least recycle the pill bottle?

Link to the FDA's recommendations