UNBURDEN MYSELF OF DRUGS

The truth is I have trouble throwing most things away. I always think it will be important later. So I save stuff. But when something is potentially dangerous, like motor oil and old batteries, I do my level best to dispose of it, properly. But what about old or unused medications? For the past 20 years or so, my husband and I have acquired quite a stash. The street value of these meds had to be in the thousands of dollars. I didn’t want them to fall into the wrong hands by dumping them in the trash. And somehow it didn’t seem right to flush them down the toilet either. So I put them in a bag in the closet, adding more to the pile, each time we went to the doctor, and there were leftovers. For a while now I have been complaining to my local pharmacy that I had these old prescribed drugs and had no means to get rid of them. They told me to dump them in the garbage, or boil them in a big pot of water, then flush them down the commode. I recited my mantra about polluting the water supply, hurting fish, wildlife, and even people. And I talked of my paranoia about bad guys ransacking my trash, dumpster diving, finding the meds, then reselling them on the black market or online. My complaints fell on deaf ears. So I just kept filling the bags in the closet. Then I heard some startling statistics. Approximately 70% of kids that abuse drugs, do it, with old precriptions from their family and friend’s medicine chests. Another half a million children, aged 5 and under, will be poisoned by household medications. How sad. Because my daughters are grown and our visits with the grandchildren are usually at their houses, locking up our medications isn’t necessary here. But, I was wary of the fact there seemed to be no solution for this disposal problem, I had. Then, imagine my complete surprise, when out of the blue, a DISPOSE MEDS PROGRAM Flyer showed up in my grocery bag last week. The program was being sponsored by the College Of Pharmacy at a local University. They were setting up booths around town to collect old medications from local residents. Police would be on hand to assure proper transfer of the drugs. According to the college, everything would be disposed of with high temperature incineration in a contained vessel, not hurting the environment. This clinched the deal. Years of worry were over. I was delighted to finally unburden myself, and the bathroom closet of 12-15 lbs. of old pills. GOOD RIDDANCE.