After my mom finished treatment for cancer, much of the cancer medicine was no longer needed. To help my family reset, I looked into how to dispose of it.
I learned that most people flush or discard medications, leading to severe consequences: Pharmaceuticals end up in streams, drinking water, and within reach of unsupervised children, sending hundreds of thousands of them to the emergency room yearly.
In fact, 80% of streams across America contain pharmaceutical pollutants.
Old or unneeded medication can be disposed of in a few ways. An easy option is to order a free envelope to put your medicines in and mail it back, which is available in some states such as California (link to these envelopes is at dontdumpdrugs.com).
You can also take them to a drop-off bin at certain pharmacies or sheriff stations. The Drug Enforcement Adminitration’s National Drug Take Back Day is another way.
Avi Shah
Calabasas
