Flushing Meds

[feohmoon]

I have read many posts regarding flushing meds as a way of disposal.  Although I understand the importance of removing temptation, I would encourage another form of disposal rather than allowing these dangerous drugs to enter our hydrological cycle and contribute to the further pollution and contamination of water.  The flushing of meds is responsible for drinking water across the country testing positive for an array of drugs because although the water is treated, these treatments cannot remove the chemicals in the medications/drugs rather it just breaks them down and disperses these dangerous chemicals throughout the water supply.  For those people in rural areas who have septic systems, the flushing of meds contributes to significant pollution of ground water.
This post is not meant to offend and I commend anyone with the strength it takes for an addict to flush meds but from an environmental perspective we should find another method of getting rid of the pills/drugs.

[Regretful239]

Yup, when we have a lot of pills that we need to get rid of we just mix them with coffee and water and somehow that breaks them down. If you do that and have animals that eat your coffee grounds, pls make sure you get it on video - I've always wondered how a raccoon would act when high. lol

[ang_811]

thanks for the suport.. i understand where u rwere coming from.. have a good one

[laurel453]

feohmoon... it was good food for the mind and yeah, i knew it was something you feklt at heart because i have seen what you both are studying , cool :)

[cantfly]

Well i say put them in the Dr's coffee..... yes, all of the pills....cram them in. especially oxy and tram...

thanks guys... feel better again -this site helps so much

My appologies to any careing Dr's.....
T.

ps. 50 days yay...

[feohmoon]

So you added them to a bag of coffee and threw them out like that?  Hmmm...interesting.  That seems like a good way to dispose of pills - (some of the animals that get in our compost seem to enjoy eating coffee grounds out of the filters - wonder how that would work if animals at the landfill found that coffee?...lol...)

[feohmoon]

To ang - I think that your decision to flush the meds is awesome and I am very glad that you were able to do that - I know it is not easy and I am thankful a toilet was within reach of you.
Guys, I never post anything to be offensive or to debate about...and in retrospect, I should leave posts such as this for an environmental forum -
My fiance and I are in an environmental curriculum and perhaps I posted this fresh out of school one day...I do not remember.  
I just wanted to take a moment to explain and to let you all know that I realize this is not the place for me to vent regarding environmentalism or environmental issues.  Again, I commend anyone with the strength to flush their drug of choice and I would never discourage that because I know that split second could define the rest of your life.
Peace -

[Regretful239]

The way we get rid of pills at the nursing home where I work is by putting some coffee in a bag dumping the pills in then adding some water.

[ang_811]

i couldnt give myself that extra second to think about where to dispose of the pills the other day.. first thought...toilet, flush, problem solved. im here today sober bc i did not allow myself extra time to dispose of the pills the proper way. when it comes to my sobriety i will do whatever it takes to keep  myslef clean. it could be a life or death desicion for me and for everyone else.

[bmdad]

I'm not saying it's not in there. I'm just saying the amount has to be so very small considering it has been dissolved in millions of gallons of water. Maybe my tolerance grew too fast because of the spiked water. I'm gonna keep drinking tap water and I'm gonna keep eating tuna.
The news loves a thriving story because they can keep adding to so people will pay more attention which means more people will tune in which in turn ups there ratings.
Like I said, I'm not saying it's not in there. In my opinion there's not enough to cause any harm.
If people and the news would spend more time on research and stories that do actually cause harm the world would be a much better place. We have people ingesting huge amounts of prescription meds that are being distributed both legally and illegally but yet they worry about a trace amount of them in water. Seems like they should be worrying about the root cause of the problem.

[dominosarah]

I dont believe half the stuff i hear on the news but i do know addiction and when we are faced with that split second decision we arent left with many other options.  

Speaking of water.....what about all those bottles of water they claim to be "natural spring water"?  All it was was tap water.  

[vicki595]

Personally,this is the LEAST of my worries.  I'm with Sara; focus on addiction treatments and drink filtered water!!!

[sky_is_the_limit]

You people beleive everything you read or here on the news. I have tested water myself! The S___ is in the water. Just keep drinkin!

[bmdad]

I agree  :-)

[dominosarah]

I think we need to take some extra time to find more ways to help treat addiction.

[bmdad]

We are talking about pills being mixed into millions of gallons of water. If we were to dissolve an oxy in a gallon of water and drink an 8 ounce glass it probably wouldn't even affect a toddler. I'd be interested in seeing the numbers on this. Heck, there is a small amount of mercury in tuna and other seafood but we continue to eat it and we all know how deadly mercury is. You would think the amount of prescription pills in water would be kinda like comparing mercury in seafood but most prescription pills won't kill even if taken whole. (unless someone is an addict or purposely tries to od) But we are talking about a trace amount. It's probably such a small amount it just gets p!ssed out. The only way to tell for sure if this is harming anyone is to test people that drink public water for the trace amounts. In my opinion there is no way anything would come up. I'm not talking about a urine test but a more in depth test whatever that would be. If they can find it in water they could find it in us. I can't see there being enough of anything to even come close to finding anything let alone causing any health problems. So many scientists seem to just try and do studies to get recognized. So many studies have been done they have to search high in low until they come up with a new one.
I know it's better to be safe than sorry but when crap like this makes national headlines it just seems absurd to me. I remember when it aired about a year ago. Seems like the news will try and make a big deal out of anything to get us worrying. In this day and age we have enough to worry about already.

[this_big]

Alright,It was driving me nuts,and hell i had the time. I did a little googling on the proper way to dispose of RX meds.  Most sites i found recommended mixing old medications with old food or coffee then sealing it up and tossing it in trash. This is supposedly the "safest" most eco friendly way, However if you look at the third link i've posted you may be surprised at some of the RX meds the FDA says are safe to flush. Oxycontin.. one of the most highly abused RX pain meds are one of them.Actually 11 of the 27 on the list are commonly abused and highly addictive pain meds.


This is a quote from the third link i posted....
"The majority of medicines found in the water system are a result of the body’s natural routes of drug elimination (in urine or feces)."


These are just a few of the sites i visited. Among the many i viewed there was a common fact. There is NO scientific evidence that proves that RX traces in our water supply are harmful to humans,pets. And the environmental hazards are next to none.  


http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/pdf/prescrip_disposal.pdf

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/news-article.aspx?storyid=95263

http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/BuyingUsingMedicineSafely/EnsuringSafeUseofMedicine/SafeDisposalofMedicines/ucm186187.htm#MEDICINES

[cantfly]

for what its worth -just get rid of them asap. i think the majority of the environmental responsibility should be put back on the dr's and multinational pharmaceuical companies for pushing so many into the community... (disposal.... would like to shove them down the dr's neck...grrr)  ummm that helped -feel bit better now... thanks all T.

[this_big]

I love topics like this. First off if you live in a city the recycles its waste water to tap water...MOVE!! Or at the very least do not consume it. As far as septic leakage. Pills in a septic system are the least of your worries. Think of all the other untreated.....stuff ..that ends up there. What are our options though?? I'm not bottling it up!!

  Ok i'll stop...lol..I agree with above poster about this being a good topic for another forum. I know you probably see alot of posts here about flushing narctics,but the truth is very very few actually make it to the toilet.

I'm all for a greener planet,. I recycle everything my city has facilities to handle. Among other things in my life. I just think pills in the toilet is going a little far at this point. when we come up with solutions for the major things, then we can worry about the smaller issues... I know i know every little bit counts. But really??? I just think we have bigger fish to fry right now...just my two pennies.  

Also.. i see alot of posts like this on many other forums and almost always the is no suggestion to do otherwise. Do you know of a safer way to dispose of pills?? Think that question all the way through...Even if you take them to a pharmacies "pill disposal event" ...they have to go somewhere. Do you really know where they go??

[PromisedLand]

For the record I agree with Sara and Laurel in response to my post.  The more I thought about it the more I thought it is rather ridiculous for us addicts.  But for the typical homeowner taking antibiotics, etc..it is a good idea.

[ang_811]

yup!!!!  treat others the way u want to be treated. : ).... ur thinking is very similar to mine.

[laurel453]

it is a healthy "selfish " being now ... love all other people the same as you love yourself.... ;)...

[ang_811]

thanks...lets see.... risk hurting the water supply or risk my life..... not even close.  a lil selfish but my counselor told me i have to be selfish once n awhile when it comes to my sobriety. just working my aftercare. : )

[laurel453]

hey, well done, angie :)

we are not good at thinking twice with pills near us.. we would end respecting the enviroment by destroying ourselves a little bit more ... ironic but true.

[ang_811]

i know right? if i had more time to think about it i dont know if i wouldve been able to resist. there was no1 here at the time and no one wouldve known but me. so i had no time to think about it. it was have a flushing party or throw away everything i worked so hard for away and start back at square one today. no thanks!!! : )