fairfarmhand Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Dug through the cupboard this weekend and discovered 3 bottles of MEGA pain relievers...the kind that you get when you have surgery and that people sell on the street. Dh took maybe one or two from each bottle because they make him sick. I don't want these in the house. How do I properly dispose of them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Call your pharmacy to ask if there is a medicine disposal site in your community. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawana Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Our pharmacy manager neighbor recommended mixing with used coffee grounds and putting with the regular trash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Our pharmacies have a medicine disposal program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Give a call to Target Pharmacy, Walgreens Pharmacy or other pharmacies near you. They do have medicine disposal "bins" in some of their locations. There is also the national prescription drug take-back day. http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 I work in pharmacy and I know that our chain does not accept back medications for disposal. Years ago when we did, we did not accept controled pain meds which is what it sounds like these are (Norco, Lortab, Vicodin, Hydrocodone, Oxycodone, Morphine etc). As a pharmacy chain, we had to pay to dispose of meds for people, so that is why we stopped when the economy tanked. There are some chains that will dispose of them, I just don't want you to be surprised if you call and get different answers from different pharmacies. In our area, waste management will take all medications except controlled meds at the refuse center. The police department will take the controlled medications for disposal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cera Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 In our area the only place that will take controlled medications is the police dept. They have a drug disposal bin near the front desk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaCEmom Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 The hospital told me to mix it with coffee grounds and throw it out with the trash, same as mentioned above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomtoCandJ Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Look up your states website, Michigan has the yellow jug program to keep them out of our water system. Or google your state plus yellow jug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostSurprise Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Our pharmacy generally direct people to take stronger medications to the police department. We do a run every so often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lllll Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Walgreens does it here........ at least the one in my town does, on the street that begins with M but changes to numbers as it heads to your town :laugh: . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelbe5 Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 I asked our local Walgreens and they said they would take the prescription meds, but for a fee. It was not much ($3-$4), but still, I'm not going to pay to try to properly dispose of something. Thanks for the coffee grounds idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 I asked our local Walgreens and they said they would take the prescription meds, but for a fee. It was not much ($3-$4), but still, I'm not going to pay to try to properly dispose of something. Thanks for the coffee grounds idea. The coffee grounds are only to destroy the tablets before they go to the garbage so an animal or child doesn't get into them. The constant moisture breaks down the pill while it is in the garbage can, so it is not longer in pill form. Due to rain run off at the landfill, it is almost the same as flushing or running them down the garbage disposal in terms of the environment. Especially if you area sends landfill runoff to the sewer treatment station. Places that take them back are 'typically' disposing of them in a more environmentally friendly way than just putting them into the water supply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
applethyme Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 Some pharmacies sell a little box that is addressed that your pour your pills into and put them in the mail. They go to a disposal facility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 I asked our local Walgreens and they said they would take the prescription meds, but for a fee. It was not much ($3-$4), but still, I'm not going to pay to try to properly dispose of something. Thanks for the coffee grounds idea. The one near me didn't charge but it's been a couple of years........ I think our Kroger takes them too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 I am surprised by this thread. Most (all?) of the chain drugstores here (or pharmacies within a supermarket) have secure machines/bins to drop unwanted medicines into. The small supermarket where we do most of our shopping has a pharmacy inside it, and the large superstore also has a pharmacy inside it. Both of them have these secure machines/bins for unwanted medicines. Once, I was in the pharmacy in the superstore and a man was emptying, carefully, the contents of the bin. I'm sure they are disposed of properly, but I have no idea how they do that. We do not have much of a drug abuse problem here, but it is very critical that these medicines be kept out of the hands of abusers, children, animals and out of the water system. Great that the OP wants to dispose of these medicines safely! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelbe5 Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 This is a very interesting thread. I live in the very large Chicagoland area and grew up near Chicago and lived in the city for a number of years and have never seen a disposal bin anywhere for medications in any store or pharmacy. I asked the Walgreens I get my meds from about disposal within the past year and was told there would be a fee. So this all may be a regional thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelbe5 Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 Okay. I checked and there is a place in the county I live in where I can take old scripts but it is a few towns over and is by appointment only. That, unfortunately, is not terribly convenient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 Ugh.... went to Kroger's pharmacy yesterday. I was wrong.... they only sell you envelopes in which you can put your old meds in them, and mail them somewhere. I know I saw community ad's not that long ago for a "drop off your old med's" event. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkyandtheBrains. Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 Our area police departments take old medicine. It is against the law here to throw them in the trash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 Dug through the cupboard this weekend and discovered 3 bottles of MEGA pain relievers...the kind that you get when you have surgery and that people sell on the street. Dh took maybe one or two from each bottle because they make him sick. I don't want these in the house. How do I properly dispose of them? Here all you do is walk into your local pharmacy and had them over. they will dispose of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 Just save them until the next DEA take back day. Those days are free. Last year, nearly all the local groceries and pharmacies participated. Just watch this site for the next announced date, then follow the links to find your local sites. http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/index.html This is free and will solve your problem and protect the water supply, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joules Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 In our area the only place that will take controlled medications is the police dept. They have a drug disposal bin near the front desk. Our local sheriff's department does this. If you don't have luck with pharmacies, call your local law enforcement. They have a huge incentive to keep them out of the wrong hands. (Also, be sure you tear the labels off the bottles before you recycle them. You don't want your name/address associated with narcotics. It makes you a target for break-ins.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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