| Author | Message | ||
     Crusty |
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day Help prevent drug misuse. Take back unneeded medications for safe disposal. Saturday, October 26 10 AM-2 PM Find a location near you Why is there such a day? Are people really so stupid that they'll actually collect all their unnecessary drugs and waste gas to have them "Properly disposed" of? And what does "Properly Disposed" consist of? What's wrong with simply flushing them down the toilet? Are they worried that the micro organisms in the treatment plant might get high? Or maybe there'll be a drug interaction that will cause said micro organisms to fall asleep instead of converting human waste? Perhaps they'll cause the alligators in the sewers to grow to horror movie proportions! I can see where that might become a problem, but I don't think the likelihood of that happening is very high. I bet that the 'gators would be, though; and they'd probably have one hell of a case of the munchies. This "Important" day makes absolutely no sense to me. Why don't they just put up reminders to get rid of your old and unnecessary drugs? That would be about as effective, probably more because it wouldn't waste manpower and resources. Christ; next, they'll be wanting people to turn in their old guns and ammo... | ||
| Ourdee |
I and friends of mine have gout. I am not turning any of those meds in. If a friend of mine asks to use my bathroom while suffering a gout attack, I am not going to call the law if some of my meds disappear while they are in there. I wonder if anyone with old medicinal weed will turn it in? | ||
| Ratbuell |
I wonder if anyone with old medicinal weed will turn it in? ...that sounds like "leftover bacon"...just doesn't exist. | ||
| Aesquire |
Actually several drugs are things you don't want in the streams and lakes. Birth control pills and steroids, for example. Antibiotics, too. Sure, it's tiny amounts, and a huge planet. But it's still a more realistic problem than the idea you can control the temperature of the planet by paying more in taxes. I have a creek on my property line that feeds into a river, to a Great Lake, to the Atlantic. I have had big bottles of now banned drugs and gave them to my doctor to dispose of. I wasn't worried about Atlantic Cod, or much concerned with hurting our Lake Zebra Mussels. I'm not that worried about stoned trout, either. But breeding antibiotic resistance into fish & wildlife diseases isn't a good idea. I admit I did consider casting the entire bottle of now banned pain killers out over my back yard to see if it made the deer slower. But the stupid things stand in the middle of the road now as I ride towards them. They'd probably just lie down in the road on Darvon. | ||
| Sifo |
Some years ago I read about a study done in the UK claiming that enough anti-depressants were being flushed that they were showing up in the water supply of larger cities. Also some years ago I read about another study that claimed anti-depressants have a tendency to make people more liberal in their thinking. Somehow, I've never been able to not link those together. On my more paranoid days I have to wonder how well known these sort of studies are among some of our politicians. | ||
| Aesquire |
I hang onto gout meds too. Anti inflammatory prescription strength is good to have, if you keep it in a cool dark place. Old antibiotics, blood pressure and birth control meds, however, should be kept out of the environment. And will go bad, or useless, and occasionally toxic, after several years on the shelf, depending on filler material and active ingredient. Just because I'm against Climate Hysteria doesn't mean I think pollution is good. Most stuff is scale dependent. Pour 6 quarts of used motor oil in a hole in your back yard and it probably won't ever do more than kill a little grass. It will get filtered and consumed by bacteria, eventually. 500 gallons? Not so local. And if you live on a water path ( ditch to a creek to a river...) you want to be more careful. The real problem if I understand it correctly, is antibiotics. We already have Lyme disease ticks. Breeding better germs isn't smart. | ||
| Sifo |
It pisses me off when I hear of people who go to the doctor because they have the sniffles and walk right out with a prescription for antibiotics. Without a lab test, there is no knowing if they will do any good, and over use of them do make germs more resistant. We aren't above having another plague that can wipe out close to 50% of the population. | ||
| Ebutch |
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| H0gwash |
The TLDR: Enter your zip code into the following link and the DEA will show you where you can drop off your old drugs: https://apps2.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/pubdispsearch/spring/main?execution=e1s1 This year I read a bit about "proper" disposal of drugs as part of the continuing education I take to renew my pharmacy tech license. The biggest issue is accidental poisoning by curious children and theft and resale by shifty teenagers. Otherwise Aesquire is right on. Drugs flushed down the toilet and thrown in the trash eventually land up in the water supply after it rains for a while, but that was the standard way to dispose of drugs until very recently. As a random note, A few antibiotics like tetracycline can become toxic after they expire. Even with the shiny new 2014 DEA revisions, the proper disposal of drugs at a "take back event" where law enforcement officers must be present is about as easy as it gets, other than the trash can which is still OK, just not "preferred." Pharmacies can sponsor a collection box but they often don't because there is additional liability and also the FDA requires extra documentation and security measures and both cost the pharmacy extra money. We stockpile our old drugs. The DEA prefers that you incinerate your old drugs which is something I wouldn't usually go through the trouble of but when the bedrooms burned down that's where the old drugs were, so yay, federal compliance on that one issue anyway. (Message edited by h0gwash on October 22, 2019) | ||
| Aesquire |
Anything I'm uncertain about, I just give to my doctor, who works out of an office connected to the big local teaching hospital conglomerate. Her office has a dedicated garbage container. I was just looking at meds to be tossed. Pretty sure Niacin is reasonable harmless, but old Celebrex might give a field mouse a heart attack.  Into the bag to be rid of, properly. One of my favorite BBC shows. ( Doctor Who spinoff ) (Message edited by Aesquire on October 23, 2019) | ||
| Pwnzor |
Crusty, it's actually a thing... Hyper-agressive methgators | ||
| Aesquire |
That's pretty far fetched. But if you told me in High School that multiple people seriously running for President, with million$ in donations, were going to tell us the world will end in 11 years unless they get elected, take away our cars, our guns, and our freedoms, I'd say you were on mushrooms. Yet, here we are. Btw the so called alligator expert is right about dilution. A few pounds of meth might affect critters in a small stream, but you'd have a hard time detecting real effects in a major river. I remember they tested $20 bills in Miami for cocaine, and 100% had traces, but you'd need to lick yourself into dehydration to get a buzz in a bank vault. And alligators don't attack humans? Flat out lie. They're apex predators, AND dinosaurs. Go swimming alone in their water. See for yourself. Put me in your will first. The authorities are properly concerned with theft of pain killers, if a bit over exaggerated, but it's the subtle effects of antibiotics and breeding resistant bacteria the medical community cares about. That and people being stupid. | ||
| Ourdee |
The environment. | ||
| Crusty |
Today is THE Day!!! (according to Google) I like the idea of burning the drugs. However it's freakin' raining, so that's out. I also am recovering from illness, so I don't want to go out on my bike. And flushing them down the terlet will get all the paramecium at the treatment plant stoned, so I can't do that. What a terrible dilemma! It's a good thing I don't have any old drugs to destroy, or else I'd really be up the creek without a paddle! (Message edited by Crusty on October 26, 2019) | ||
| Ourdee |
You think you got rain, look at the radar. | ||
| Aesquire |
Most older folk have partial old bottles of something. The doc switches you from one blood pressure med to another, pronouncacycline gets banned when they find out it makes pregnant ducks explode, etc. Opiates you don't want tempting the kids are another subject. In any case, I bet your local pharmacy or doc will be unfazed by anything you want to drop off. And if their answer is to toss it? Go ahead, good enough. The turn in day thing is just to remind folk to toss old meds responsibly. There's no reason not to. And if you keep a stash of whatever for a rainy, achey day, who cares? Lots of folk have chronic pain. I caution to avoid dependency and addiction, but if X helped before, and you tolerate it well, physically and mentally, I'd keep the last two pills. After 20+ years of injuries I've taken a bag of pain meds, mostly bottles with one dose used, to my doc, and laughed while she went through them. "This one's ok, this one's banned, who the bell gave you this one?" Just check for safe shelf life. Some drugs go bad. | ||
| Ourdee |
I keep expired EpiPens just in case. I throw them out as I replace them with newly expired EpiPens. Stays in the in case of zombies box. When it comes to gout meds I try to have enough to last till society rebuilds itself after the zombies. The doctor prescribes 162 grams for gout alone for me each year. The simplest way to explain gout pain is it is uric acid crystals in your joints and feels like someone put crushed glass in the joints. Lots of drugs last over 20 years. If in doubt, throw it out. | ||
| 86129squids |
Yeesh. I've got a great buddy who avoids red meat due to gout. Sounds worse than plantar fasciitis, which I've got managed as of now. My honey and her bestie both got a 30 minute upper body massage today, split my honey's Bday gift card. Sitting here a bit jealous after hearing how great it was, just getting in from work. Guess I'll get in the hot tub, rain's passing. |
