Aa
Take back prescription drug days - this Saturday in US
We all have them - those pill bottles with drugs that we won't use.
This Saturday in the US is the second drug take back day for expired or unused prescription drugs. To find a location near you, go to this link and enter your zip code.
http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/index.html
This Saturday in the US is the second drug take back day for expired or unused prescription drugs. To find a location near you, go to this link and enter your zip code.
http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/index.html
Thanks Lulu but I was wondering if anyone knew if the drop off sites on Saturday were going to be willing to accept OTCs and / or prescription drugs that aren’t in the frequently abused category.
I know kids will grab anything they can put their hands on to contribute to the “candy bowl” at a pharm party. Sadly, efforts to stop addiction before it starts have become harder the longer we’re at it. Kids always seem to be a step ahead in every department except recognizing their own vulnerabilities. Saving kids from themselves is a never-ending task.
Even these days, when we have no children living at home, I am constantly aware of how many of each pill should be in a bottle. When the kids lived at home they knew I checked numbers all the time and they wouldn’t get away with anything if they ever cared to try. I never saw a reason to hold onto anything that wasn’t being used. It’s tough for people now to pay for 90 days worth of something and then toss them away.
Mary
I know kids will grab anything they can put their hands on to contribute to the “candy bowl” at a pharm party. Sadly, efforts to stop addiction before it starts have become harder the longer we’re at it. Kids always seem to be a step ahead in every department except recognizing their own vulnerabilities. Saving kids from themselves is a never-ending task.
Even these days, when we have no children living at home, I am constantly aware of how many of each pill should be in a bottle. When the kids lived at home they knew I checked numbers all the time and they wouldn’t get away with anything if they ever cared to try. I never saw a reason to hold onto anything that wasn’t being used. It’s tough for people now to pay for 90 days worth of something and then toss them away.
Mary
oops - I hit send before I finished the thought. If you google pharm party, you get a mix of reports - everything from urban lore to police reports. We do know the abuse of rx drugs is on the rise - we need to be smart about what we keep on hand.
twopack,
the PHARM parties include anything they can put their hands on, including OTC.
the PHARM parties include anything they can put their hands on, including OTC.
It would be great if we could get the facts. It's already hard enough to sort it all out.
Thanks Johnnymutt and Sumanadevii for the references. Can't say I studied them but they seemed to be giving similar advice. Some just mention that people ignore recommendations. So what's new about that?
This did inspire me to search for something more updated than 2007. So here is a site on topic with today's date on it.
http://www.smarxtdisposal.net/
And a direct link to FDA info (rather than what others say the FDA says)
http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/BuyingUsingMedicineSafely/EnsuringSafeUseofMedicine/SafeDisposalofMedicines/ucm186187.htm#MEDICINES
My apologies Sumana, apparently the FDA does advise flushing drugs with high abuse potential to "get rid of them quickly". Imagine the government having an out-of-sight-out-of-mind attitude. We find traces of drugs in water but don't know disposal contamination is causing any problems so we conclude it is safer to risk the future than find a better disposal method. Besides it is probably just traces of pooped out drug anyway so who cares about that?
I think I'll dispose with caution myself. Frankly, it gets harder and harder for me to trust FDA recommendations. When I see and hear explosive numbers of people describing lives lived with unexplained and undiagnosed illnesses that were unheard of in the past I have to wonder WHY. Could our bodies possibly be telling us that the better-living-through-chemistry motto is a lie?
I'll be the first to acknowledge there is NO perfect solution and (certainly) there will be differing opinions. I choose to use alternatives to drug therapy as a first response. I'm not a health freak by any means but I do actively avoid drugs and their side effects. Why would I want to chance drinking them with my water?
As for septic systems, I know all about them as they are common around here. They aren't grandfathered into anything. People install them new all the time and (like Sumanadevii) go to great lengths to keep them healthy. Now that citizens with sewer have to pay for pipe repair under their property they also take more care with "unflushables" that can clog up the works. Apparently most narcs and benzos won't faze people until they are hit in the wallet. Yep, that's an opinion.
Mary
Thanks Johnnymutt and Sumanadevii for the references. Can't say I studied them but they seemed to be giving similar advice. Some just mention that people ignore recommendations. So what's new about that?
This did inspire me to search for something more updated than 2007. So here is a site on topic with today's date on it.
http://www.smarxtdisposal.net/
And a direct link to FDA info (rather than what others say the FDA says)
http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/BuyingUsingMedicineSafely/EnsuringSafeUseofMedicine/SafeDisposalofMedicines/ucm186187.htm#MEDICINES
My apologies Sumana, apparently the FDA does advise flushing drugs with high abuse potential to "get rid of them quickly". Imagine the government having an out-of-sight-out-of-mind attitude. We find traces of drugs in water but don't know disposal contamination is causing any problems so we conclude it is safer to risk the future than find a better disposal method. Besides it is probably just traces of pooped out drug anyway so who cares about that?
I think I'll dispose with caution myself. Frankly, it gets harder and harder for me to trust FDA recommendations. When I see and hear explosive numbers of people describing lives lived with unexplained and undiagnosed illnesses that were unheard of in the past I have to wonder WHY. Could our bodies possibly be telling us that the better-living-through-chemistry motto is a lie?
I'll be the first to acknowledge there is NO perfect solution and (certainly) there will be differing opinions. I choose to use alternatives to drug therapy as a first response. I'm not a health freak by any means but I do actively avoid drugs and their side effects. Why would I want to chance drinking them with my water?
As for septic systems, I know all about them as they are common around here. They aren't grandfathered into anything. People install them new all the time and (like Sumanadevii) go to great lengths to keep them healthy. Now that citizens with sewer have to pay for pipe repair under their property they also take more care with "unflushables" that can clog up the works. Apparently most narcs and benzos won't faze people until they are hit in the wallet. Yep, that's an opinion.
Mary
So, of course there is going to be a difference of opinion. Here is one
"Safety and environmental considerations have been widely overlooked in the disposal of medications. Customarily, patients were advised to flush medications down the toilet or pour them down the sink. Subsequently, trace amounts of medicinal byproducts have been found in the water supply. Although short-term studies fail to demonstrate harm to humans and animals, long-term effects, including endocrine disturbances, growth inhibition, and mutagenicity, still remain unclear.[1,2]
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published guidelines in 2007 with instructions on how to properly discard all prescription and nonprescription medications.[1] In addition, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the American Pharmacists Association, and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America have collaborated to promote environmentally safe discarding of medications in a program called "SMARxT Disposal."[3] SMARxT Disposal recommendations include:
•Before any medication disposal, patients should read the product instructions or label carefully. If it states to flush the unused product down the toilet, the patient should follow those directions. Medications that carry such instructions are scheduled drugs with high abuse potential."
Safety and environmental considerations have been widely overlooked in the disposal of medications. Customarily, patients were advised to flush medications down the toilet or pour them down the sink. Subsequently, trace amounts of medicinal byproducts have been found in the water supply. Although short-term studies fail to demonstrate harm to humans and animals, long-term effects, including endocrine disturbances, growth inhibition, and mutagenicity, still remain unclear.[1,2]
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published guidelines in 2007 with instructions on how to properly discard all prescription and nonprescription medications.[1] In addition, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the American Pharmacists Association, and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America have collaborated to promote environmentally safe discarding of medications in a program called "SMARxT Disposal."[3] SMARxT Disposal recommendations include:
•Before any medication disposal, patients should read the product instructions or label carefully. If it states to flush the unused product down the toilet, the patient should follow those directions. Medications that carry such instructions are scheduled drugs with high abuse potential."
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/712162
Another
"Do not flush" represents part of the federal government's widely ignored and unenforceable guidelines. The guidelines suggest mixing most unwanted medicines with coffee grounds or kitty litter, then tossing the mess into the trash. There are 13 medicines — mostly strong narcotics — that the federal government explicitly says should be flushed so junkies won't get them."
http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_10473296
"Safety and environmental considerations have been widely overlooked in the disposal of medications. Customarily, patients were advised to flush medications down the toilet or pour them down the sink. Subsequently, trace amounts of medicinal byproducts have been found in the water supply. Although short-term studies fail to demonstrate harm to humans and animals, long-term effects, including endocrine disturbances, growth inhibition, and mutagenicity, still remain unclear.[1,2]
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published guidelines in 2007 with instructions on how to properly discard all prescription and nonprescription medications.[1] In addition, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the American Pharmacists Association, and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America have collaborated to promote environmentally safe discarding of medications in a program called "SMARxT Disposal."[3] SMARxT Disposal recommendations include:
•Before any medication disposal, patients should read the product instructions or label carefully. If it states to flush the unused product down the toilet, the patient should follow those directions. Medications that carry such instructions are scheduled drugs with high abuse potential."
Safety and environmental considerations have been widely overlooked in the disposal of medications. Customarily, patients were advised to flush medications down the toilet or pour them down the sink. Subsequently, trace amounts of medicinal byproducts have been found in the water supply. Although short-term studies fail to demonstrate harm to humans and animals, long-term effects, including endocrine disturbances, growth inhibition, and mutagenicity, still remain unclear.[1,2]
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published guidelines in 2007 with instructions on how to properly discard all prescription and nonprescription medications.[1] In addition, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the American Pharmacists Association, and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America have collaborated to promote environmentally safe discarding of medications in a program called "SMARxT Disposal."[3] SMARxT Disposal recommendations include:
•Before any medication disposal, patients should read the product instructions or label carefully. If it states to flush the unused product down the toilet, the patient should follow those directions. Medications that carry such instructions are scheduled drugs with high abuse potential."
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/712162
Another
"Do not flush" represents part of the federal government's widely ignored and unenforceable guidelines. The guidelines suggest mixing most unwanted medicines with coffee grounds or kitty litter, then tossing the mess into the trash. There are 13 medicines — mostly strong narcotics — that the federal government explicitly says should be flushed so junkies won't get them."
http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_10473296
On a lighter note, thanks for the heads up, as I have a bit of pharms, that I've been looking to dispose of properly myself.
Definitely never flush any drugs into the water system. I read an article a few weeks back, and have read several variations of it since, of how pharms., are leaking into the water tables around the US and beyond. I'll do a copy and paste of part of the article and the link to it.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-03-10-drugs-tap-water_N.htm
By Jeff Donn, Martha Mendoza and Justin Pritchard, Associated Press
A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows.
To be sure, the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Also, utilities insist their water is safe.
WATER DEPARTMENTS: Reports rarely released to public
BOTTLED WATER: Is it any safer?
NEW YORK CITY: Sedative traces found in water
LOS ANGELES: Water tops national taste test
RELATED: Problems in fish blamed on contamination
But the presence of so many prescription drugs — and over-the-counter medicines like acetaminophen and ibuprofen — in so much of our drinking water is heightening worries among scientists of long-term consequences to human health.
In the course of a five-month inquiry, the AP discovered that drugs have been detected in the drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas — from Southern California to Northern New Jersey, from Detroit to Louisville
Water providers rarely disclose results of pharmaceutical screenings, unless pressed, the AP found. For example, the head of a group representing major California suppliers said the public "doesn't know how to interpret the information" and might be unduly alarmed.
How do the drugs get into the water?
People take pills. Their bodies absorb some of the medication, but the rest of it passes through and is flushed down the toilet. The wastewater is treated before it is discharged into reservoirs, rivers or lakes. Then, some of the water is cleansed again at drinking water treatment plants and piped to consumers. But most treatments do not remove all drug residue.
And while researchers do not yet understand the exact risks from decades of persistent exposure to random combinations of low levels of pharmaceuticals, recent studies — which have gone virtually unnoticed by the general public — have found alarming effects on human cells and wildlife.
"We recognize it is a growing concern and we're taking it very seriously," said Benjamin H. Grumbles, assistant administrator for water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Members of the AP National Investigative Team reviewed hundreds of scientific reports, analyzed federal drinking water databases, visited environmental study sites and treatment plants and interviewed more than 230 officials, academics and scientists. They also surveyed the nation's 50 largest cities and a dozen other major water providers, as well as smaller community water providers in all 50 states.
Here are some of the key test results obtained by the AP:
• Officials in Philadelphia said testing there discovered 56 pharmaceuticals or byproducts in treated drinking water, including medicines for pain, infection, high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illness and heart problems. Sixty-three pharmaceuticals or byproducts were found in the city's watersheds.
• Anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications were detected in a portion of the treated drinking water for 18.5 million people in Southern California.
• Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed a Passaic Valley Water Commission drinking water treatment plant, which serves 850,000 people in Northern New Jersey, and found a metabolized angina medicine and the mood-stabilizing carbamazepine in drinking water.
• A sex hormone was detected in San Francisco's drinking water.
• The drinking water for Washington, D.C., and surrounding areas tested positive for six pharmaceuticals.
• Three medications, including an antibiotic, were found in drinking water supplied to Tucson.
The situation is undoubtedly worse than suggested by the positive test results in the major population centers documented by the AP.
The federal government doesn't require any testing and hasn't set safety limits for drugs in water. Of the 62 major water providers contacted, the drinking water for only 28 was tested. Among the 34 that haven't: Houston, Chicago, Miami, Baltimore, Phoenix, Boston and New York City's Department of Environmental Protection, which delivers water to 9 million people.
Some providers screen only for one or two pharmaceuticals, leaving open the possibility that others are present.
The AP's investigation also indicates that watersheds, the natural sources of most of the nation's water supply, also are contaminated. Tests were conducted in the watersheds of 35 of the 62 major providers surveyed by the AP, and pharmaceuticals were detected in 28.
Yet officials in six of those 28 metropolitan areas said they did not go on to test their drinking water — Fairfax, Va.; Montgomery County in Maryland; Omaha; Oklahoma City; Santa Clara, Calif., and New York City.
The New York state health department and the USGS tested the source of the city's water, upstate. They found trace concentrations of heart medicine, infection fighters, estrogen, anti-convulsants, a mood stabilizer and a tranquilizer.
City water officials declined repeated requests for an interview. In a statement, they insisted that "New York City's drinking water continues to meet all federal and state regulations regarding drinking water quality in the watershed and the distribution system" — regulations that do not address trace pharmaceuticals.
In several cases, officials at municipal or regional water providers told the AP that pharmaceuticals had not been detected, but the AP obtained the results of tests conducted by independent researchers that showed otherwise. For example, water department officials in New Orleans said their water had not been tested for pharmaceuticals, but a Tulane University researcher and his students have published a study that found the pain reliever naproxen, the sex hormone estrone and the anti-cholesterol drug byproduct clofibric acid in treated drinking water.
Of the 28 major metropolitan areas where tests were performed on drinking water supplies, only Albuquerque; Austin, Texas; and Virginia Beach; said tests were negative. The drinking water in Dallas has been tested, but officials are awaiting results. Arlington, Texas, acknowledged that traces of a pharmaceutical were detected in its drinking water but cited post-9/11 security concerns in refusing to identify the drug.
The AP also contacted 52 small water providers — one in each state, and two each in Missouri and Texas — that serve communities with populations around 25,000. All but one said their drinking water had not been screened for pharmaceuticals; officials in Emporia, Kan., refused to answer AP's questions, also citing post-9/11 issues.
Rural consumers who draw water from their own wells aren't in the clear either, experts say.
The Stroud Water Research Center, in Avondale, Pa., has measured water samples from New York City's upstate watershed for caffeine, a common contaminant that scientists often look for as a possible signal for the presence of other pharmaceuticals. Though more caffeine was detected at suburban sites, researcher Anthony Aufdenkampe was struck by the relatively high levels even in less populated areas.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-03-10-drugs-tap-water_N.htm
By Jeff Donn, Martha Mendoza and Justin Pritchard, Associated Press
A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows.
To be sure, the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Also, utilities insist their water is safe.
WATER DEPARTMENTS: Reports rarely released to public
BOTTLED WATER: Is it any safer?
NEW YORK CITY: Sedative traces found in water
LOS ANGELES: Water tops national taste test
RELATED: Problems in fish blamed on contamination
But the presence of so many prescription drugs — and over-the-counter medicines like acetaminophen and ibuprofen — in so much of our drinking water is heightening worries among scientists of long-term consequences to human health.
In the course of a five-month inquiry, the AP discovered that drugs have been detected in the drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas — from Southern California to Northern New Jersey, from Detroit to Louisville
Water providers rarely disclose results of pharmaceutical screenings, unless pressed, the AP found. For example, the head of a group representing major California suppliers said the public "doesn't know how to interpret the information" and might be unduly alarmed.
How do the drugs get into the water?
People take pills. Their bodies absorb some of the medication, but the rest of it passes through and is flushed down the toilet. The wastewater is treated before it is discharged into reservoirs, rivers or lakes. Then, some of the water is cleansed again at drinking water treatment plants and piped to consumers. But most treatments do not remove all drug residue.
And while researchers do not yet understand the exact risks from decades of persistent exposure to random combinations of low levels of pharmaceuticals, recent studies — which have gone virtually unnoticed by the general public — have found alarming effects on human cells and wildlife.
"We recognize it is a growing concern and we're taking it very seriously," said Benjamin H. Grumbles, assistant administrator for water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Members of the AP National Investigative Team reviewed hundreds of scientific reports, analyzed federal drinking water databases, visited environmental study sites and treatment plants and interviewed more than 230 officials, academics and scientists. They also surveyed the nation's 50 largest cities and a dozen other major water providers, as well as smaller community water providers in all 50 states.
Here are some of the key test results obtained by the AP:
• Officials in Philadelphia said testing there discovered 56 pharmaceuticals or byproducts in treated drinking water, including medicines for pain, infection, high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illness and heart problems. Sixty-three pharmaceuticals or byproducts were found in the city's watersheds.
• Anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications were detected in a portion of the treated drinking water for 18.5 million people in Southern California.
• Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed a Passaic Valley Water Commission drinking water treatment plant, which serves 850,000 people in Northern New Jersey, and found a metabolized angina medicine and the mood-stabilizing carbamazepine in drinking water.
• A sex hormone was detected in San Francisco's drinking water.
• The drinking water for Washington, D.C., and surrounding areas tested positive for six pharmaceuticals.
• Three medications, including an antibiotic, were found in drinking water supplied to Tucson.
The situation is undoubtedly worse than suggested by the positive test results in the major population centers documented by the AP.
The federal government doesn't require any testing and hasn't set safety limits for drugs in water. Of the 62 major water providers contacted, the drinking water for only 28 was tested. Among the 34 that haven't: Houston, Chicago, Miami, Baltimore, Phoenix, Boston and New York City's Department of Environmental Protection, which delivers water to 9 million people.
Some providers screen only for one or two pharmaceuticals, leaving open the possibility that others are present.
The AP's investigation also indicates that watersheds, the natural sources of most of the nation's water supply, also are contaminated. Tests were conducted in the watersheds of 35 of the 62 major providers surveyed by the AP, and pharmaceuticals were detected in 28.
Yet officials in six of those 28 metropolitan areas said they did not go on to test their drinking water — Fairfax, Va.; Montgomery County in Maryland; Omaha; Oklahoma City; Santa Clara, Calif., and New York City.
The New York state health department and the USGS tested the source of the city's water, upstate. They found trace concentrations of heart medicine, infection fighters, estrogen, anti-convulsants, a mood stabilizer and a tranquilizer.
City water officials declined repeated requests for an interview. In a statement, they insisted that "New York City's drinking water continues to meet all federal and state regulations regarding drinking water quality in the watershed and the distribution system" — regulations that do not address trace pharmaceuticals.
In several cases, officials at municipal or regional water providers told the AP that pharmaceuticals had not been detected, but the AP obtained the results of tests conducted by independent researchers that showed otherwise. For example, water department officials in New Orleans said their water had not been tested for pharmaceuticals, but a Tulane University researcher and his students have published a study that found the pain reliever naproxen, the sex hormone estrone and the anti-cholesterol drug byproduct clofibric acid in treated drinking water.
Of the 28 major metropolitan areas where tests were performed on drinking water supplies, only Albuquerque; Austin, Texas; and Virginia Beach; said tests were negative. The drinking water in Dallas has been tested, but officials are awaiting results. Arlington, Texas, acknowledged that traces of a pharmaceutical were detected in its drinking water but cited post-9/11 security concerns in refusing to identify the drug.
The AP also contacted 52 small water providers — one in each state, and two each in Missouri and Texas — that serve communities with populations around 25,000. All but one said their drinking water had not been screened for pharmaceuticals; officials in Emporia, Kan., refused to answer AP's questions, also citing post-9/11 issues.
Rural consumers who draw water from their own wells aren't in the clear either, experts say.
The Stroud Water Research Center, in Avondale, Pa., has measured water samples from New York City's upstate watershed for caffeine, a common contaminant that scientists often look for as a possible signal for the presence of other pharmaceuticals. Though more caffeine was detected at suburban sites, researcher Anthony Aufdenkampe was struck by the relatively high levels even in less populated areas.
Mary,
We were told by our local police, pharmacy, doctor's office, hospital, etc to flush. Maybe you can send some educational materials to them.
I personally would not due to our septic system which is grandfathered. It goes down and I pay 20,000 to add on to city sewer. I sure wasn't going to trash them knowing how kids love cutting them and putting them under their tongue....a nice high at 400 times the strength of morphine. So, here I sit with them and finally a way to dispose of them thanks to Lulu.
So old advice or not, it is exactly what we are being told.
We were told by our local police, pharmacy, doctor's office, hospital, etc to flush. Maybe you can send some educational materials to them.
I personally would not due to our septic system which is grandfathered. It goes down and I pay 20,000 to add on to city sewer. I sure wasn't going to trash them knowing how kids love cutting them and putting them under their tongue....a nice high at 400 times the strength of morphine. So, here I sit with them and finally a way to dispose of them thanks to Lulu.
So old advice or not, it is exactly what we are being told.
Thanks for sharing this info Lulu. Do you know if this includes OTC drugs or do they only take prescription drugs or controlled substances?
I wonder where they end up dumping all this stuff. Hope they are preventing drug abuse and promoting green disposal at the same time.
(Don't know who told you to flush those Sumana. It's old time advice. No drug should be flushed into a septic system or a sanitary sewer because of contamination hazards. Patches themselves could clog either system besides.)
Mary
I wonder where they end up dumping all this stuff. Hope they are preventing drug abuse and promoting green disposal at the same time.
(Don't know who told you to flush those Sumana. It's old time advice. No drug should be flushed into a septic system or a sanitary sewer because of contamination hazards. Patches themselves could clog either system besides.)
Mary
A story to share from this - I heard this first on Doctor Radio and they were discussing the new trend among teens to have PHARM parties. They said kids are taking drugs from parents, grandparents, wherever they can get them.
At the party they then take a big bowl, like a punch bowl, and dump all the pills they can gather into the bowl. Then everyone takes a handful of pills and swallows them. The doctor was an ER doc, and said that the number of overdoses he has seen has increased. The doctors can't even be told what pills have been taken because it is a mix.
It was so scary to listen to this discussion and really got me thinking about all the drugs sitting around my house that are serving no purposes.
If you can't make it to a drug drop off the suggestion was to take a ziploc bag, fill it with kitty litter, put your pills in the bag, then fill the bag with water and let the pills dissolve. They then said to put it our with your regular trash in the sealed bag.
At the party they then take a big bowl, like a punch bowl, and dump all the pills they can gather into the bowl. Then everyone takes a handful of pills and swallows them. The doctor was an ER doc, and said that the number of overdoses he has seen has increased. The doctors can't even be told what pills have been taken because it is a mix.
It was so scary to listen to this discussion and really got me thinking about all the drugs sitting around my house that are serving no purposes.
If you can't make it to a drug drop off the suggestion was to take a ziploc bag, fill it with kitty litter, put your pills in the bag, then fill the bag with water and let the pills dissolve. They then said to put it our with your regular trash in the sealed bag.
Got an e-mail from one of the nearby health departments about this event. Urged us to share with the church, and naturally, I forgot all about it on Sunday. Some will be there tomorrow, anyway.
This contact also led to my facilitating cooperation and collaboration between two departments, each of which could eventually help many of our church members. (Left hand, meet right hand.)
Not sure what I have left up there, but it's a good time to look in the back of the medicine cabinets, since we're thinking about it. Posting here was a good idea, Laura Lu.
This contact also led to my facilitating cooperation and collaboration between two departments, each of which could eventually help many of our church members. (Left hand, meet right hand.)
Not sure what I have left up there, but it's a good time to look in the back of the medicine cabinets, since we're thinking about it. Posting here was a good idea, Laura Lu.
Thank you, Lulu. I have pain patches and have been worried sick on how to dispose. We were told to flush them but are on a septic system.
Thanks for the information. I think we'll be heading over there this weekend, since we missed the last one.
-Kelly
-Kelly
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