Drug Take-back Day a Success

With another drug take-back day come and gone, Kansas officials are happy with the results. On April 30th, Police and volunteers at a number of sites collected expired or leftover prescription drugs for turn-in to the DEA.

Because these medications usually sit, unmonitored, in medicine cabinets, turning them in for proper disposal keeps kids and others from getting their hands on the drugs.

The Kansas Board of Pharmacy also put out guidelines for pharmacies to dispose of unwanted drugs. Patients can turn them in anytime, even if they missed the National Take-back.

Most pharmacies will take back non-controlled drugs for disposal -- these can be destroyed properly and sent to landfills with regular trash. Blood pressure and heart medications would be examples of these. However, there is currently a regulatory problem with taking back controlled substances (like narcotics or other pain medications). The problem, from the pharmacy point of view is one of documentation. As registrants with the DEA, they are not legally allowed to take controlled drugs into inventory without the correct paperwork.

For that reason, if you wish to dispose of a controlled substance you will need to turn it into the police department who will then transfer it through channels or destroy it under DEA direction. You can call your pharmacy if you are not sure how to get rid of any particular medication and they can instruct you.

The real problem is just getting people to take the little bit of effort to clean out their medicine cabinet. Expired medications can be dangerous, but they are seen as something of value and people, especially on fixed incomes, tend to hoard them. Perhaps knowing that they are a poison and theft risk will be enough of a nudge to inspire action.

Note that flushing medications down the toilet isn't always a good idea either. Ground water contamination can result and this practice has been discontinued because of the pollution risk. Some medications still have an effect, even in the very low quantities they end up at in rivers and streams.