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OPTIONS TO DISPOSE OF UNUSED, UNWANTED, AND EXPIRED MEDICATIONS
1. Take to a household
hazardous waste collection center or event.
Waste medications can be taken to the following
:
In all other areas, first check with your city
or county to determine whether their household hazardous waste
collections accept medications. It is illegal for household hazardous
waste centers to accept certain prescription medications known
as "controlled substances". These are drugs that have
a potential for addiction and/or abuse such as narcotics and tranquilizers.
Common controlled substances include codeine, phenobarbitol, and
anabolic steroids (click
for a more detailed list). If you don't know if your prescription
is a controlled substance, check with your doctor or pharmacist.
If they tell you that it is a controlled substance, dispose of
it as described in #2, taking care that all of the recommended
steps are followed.
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OR
2. Put in a sturdy
and securely sealed container and then in a trash can where
children and pets can't reach them.
To avoid accidental and follow these steps:
- Safety
When possible, all medications
put in the trash should be ""
in some way to prevent people and animals from eating
them. You can do this by simply adding water and then
salt, ashes from the fireplace or barbeque pit, or dirt
from the yard to pills or capsules in a bottle or by adding
salt, ashes, or dirt to liquid medications. Wrap several
layers of masking tape or duct tape to cover and hide
blister packs (pills in a card). Learn more at .
It is also wise to place the medications in the trash
as close to the pick-up time as possible so there is less
chance that the medicine can fall into the wrong hands.
- Container
Use the original container with safety caps, if available,
and tape the lid to the container with duct tape or another
type of sturdy tape. It is a good idea to use a plastic
container when disposing of liquid in a glass bottle to
contain the spill if the bottle breaks. Hide all medications
in an outer container such as a paper bag, box, or plastic
tub and wrap in several layers of newspaper to prevent
discovery and removal from the trash.
- Privacy
If desired, remove patient's
name, drug name, prescription number, and other personal
information from the container before disposal.
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