Over-prescribed and under-consumed, prescription drugs are generating both environmental and law enforcement problems. A national take-back day September 25 is intended to heighten awareness of this important issue.
The growing national volume of unused prescription drugs is prompting the nation’s first drug take-back day September 25. When flushed down toilets — the usual management choice for many health care facilities and households — the drugs can pollute drinking water and may affect fish and other aquatic life. But national drug policies and regulations have thwarted many community take-back efforts.
The U.S. EPA and Fish and Wildlife Service oppose the flushing of prescription medication based on studies showing many of the nation’s waters are contaminated by personal care products, including prescription drugs. Endocrine disruptors in some medicines have been associated with altering the sex characteristics of fish. But both the Food and Drug Administration and the Office of National Drug Control Policy recommend flushing some drugs.
“Odds are that many of us have half empty bottles of medicine lying around our houses. Some of us may have thought we were doing the right thing by flushing them down the toilet, or throwing them away with our trash. But these disposal methods can have a damaging effect on our environment,” said U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging Chairman Herb Kohl (D-WI), who is calling for a new federal guideline on prescription drug disposal, at a July 1 Congressional hearing.
Tough Drug Enforcement Administration guidelines require law enforcement personnel be present at take-back events and drop-off facilities. The returned drugs are frequently incinerated at high temperatures.
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar has introduced a proposed Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act that would facilitate unused drug take back programs. Although primarily intended to keep potent drugs like Vicodin out of the hands of young people, the measure would also have environmental benefits.
Take-back programs are popular with many communities. Almost 180 pounds of pills have been dropped off at the Longview, Washington Police Department disposal site since the program began last September. In Chisago County, Minnesota, the sheriff’s office collects an average of five pounds of medicines every day.
More information on plans for the drug take-back event, supported by the National Association of Attorneys General, is here.
Photo: UCL London.
[...] Some medicines have even been associated with altering the sex characteristics of fish, reports Ecolocalizer.com. Once the drugs are handed in to law enforcement personnel during one of the national take-back [...]