If you have stopped taking a prescription medication—because you no longer need it, it has expired, or perhaps it has been recalled—you should dispose of the pills promptly and properly to avoid them finding their way into the wrong hands and risking accidental exposure, misuse/abuse, or overdoses. This is especially important when it comes to opioid-containing drugs.
Twice a year, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) holds a National Prescription Drug Take Back Day to provide a safe and convenient means of discarding unneeded or unwanted pharmaceuticals and to disseminate information about abuse of prescription drugs. This year’s first event is on Saturday, April 30, from 10 am to 2 pm. For the last National Take Back Day, on October 23, 2021, the DEA collected 744,082 pounds (372 tons) of prescription drugs at 4,982 sites around the country (the total weight includes some material other than the drugs themselves). In total, more than 15,000,000 pounds have been collected over the course of 21 National Take Back Days.
If you miss the April event, here are your other drug-disposal options:
- To find a year-round public-disposal location in your area, go to this DEA webpage where you can enter your city or zip code. Or call your local police department or waste disposal agency to ask if they have drug take-back programs. Some pharmacies have locked boxes for depositing unused drugs.
- If there are no take-back programs in your area, check the FDA’s flush list to see which medicines you can—and should—flush down the toilet or sink. Drugs on the list are those that can cause serious harm, even death, in as little as a single dose, or drugs that are widely abused. If your medicine is not on the list, do not flush it. The FDA acknowledges that flushing unused drugs may present some environmental concerns but contends that the known risk of harm from accidental exposure “far outweighs” any ecological or human-health risks associated with releasing these drugs into the environment.
- Drugs not on the flush list should be tossed in the trash. To do so safely, mix the uncrushed pills with an unpalatable substance such as coffee grounds, cat litter, or dirt and seal the mixture in a small plastic bag before throwing it in with your household garbage.
- Discard the pill container after removing any personal information on it.
- For drugs that have been recalled, most reputable pharmacies have a return and refund policy.
