Throw away your old medicines safely

Americans spend nearly $1,100 per person on prescription and over-the-counter medications every year, and much of it is left in cabinets, drawers, or forgotten.

"Unused medication should not be left sitting around the house for several reasons," says Amy Tiemeier, Pharm.D., BCPS, associate professor of pharmacy practice at St. Louis College of Pharmacy. "It could be the target for thieves. Medication can also weaken over time, lose effectiveness, and prevent you from reaching your health goals."

Additionally, there is a safety concern with some medications, especially powerful pain relievers. Police say a vast majority of heroin and other narcotics addicts start their addictive behavior by abusing prescription pain medication. Today 2,700 teens will abuse a prescription drug for the first time. They join the nearly 7 million Americans who already abuse prescription medications.

"There's a mistaken belief among teens that because a medication is prescribed or is available over-the-counter, it is safer than illegal drugs," Tiemeier says. "If patients are concerned about medications falling into the wrong hands, lock it in a drawer or keep it with you at all times. However once out of sight, it's easy to forget the next dose. To remember to take your medication, set an appointment on the calendar of your phone or leave a note on the front door or refrigerator."

In the last four years, the DEA has disposed of more than 6,000 pounds of medication from St. Louis area homes and collected more than three million pounds across the country. Tiemeier says the best way to safely destroy medication is with an organization that incinerates the medications. Water treatment plants were not designed to filter out the active ingredients in medications.

The next nationwide medication disposal day is Saturday, April 26, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

To support year-round medication disposal efforts, the College launched MedDisposal.org, a website devoted to proper medication disposal. The site will point consumers, no matter where they live in the country, to the closest disposal location for the April 26 event. The site also has information about proper disposal of needles and other sharps.

"All of us should look at our medications," Tiemeier says. "If they're no longer needed, expired, or could be stolen, take them to drop off sites."