Drug Disposal at Police Station on 'Drug Take-Back Day' 9/29
Those with unwanted prescription and over-the-counter drugs may take them to the City of Fairfax Police Station September 29 as part of Drug Take-Back Day.

The city is working with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to collect unused, unwanted medication from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. September 29 in the police station lobby, 3730 Old Lee Highway.

The city will accept prescription and OTC pills, ointments and liquids in sealed containers.

Drop-off is anonymous; no identification or prescription information is required. For information, call 703-385-7966.

At the most recent drug take-back day in April 2012, the police department collected 237 pounds of expired or unused medication, eclipsing the nearly 155 pounds collected at the first event in October 2011. This material was transported to the Virginia State Police barracks, then taken into custody by the DEA.

Drug disposal is an ongoing national issue, with reports of prescription drug chemicals found in some municipal water sources and leaching out of landfills.

Seems like a horribly long process to discard of medication. Why can't it be incinerated or flushed?

Exactly. It's called a toilet. DERP.

"Drug disposal is an ongoing national issue, with reports of prescription drug chemicals found in some municipal water sources and leaching out of landfills."

It shouldn't be flushed because it is then absorbed into municipal water.

How the crap is our drinking water being affected by drain water?! There's your bigger issue right there! ...if that's even true.

.... Wrote:
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> "Drug disposal is an ongoing national issue, with
> reports of prescription drug chemicals found in
> some municipal water sources and leaching out of
> landfills."
>
> It shouldn't be flushed because it is then
> absorbed into municipal water.

So is everything else that goes down the drain.

Enigma Wrote:
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> How the crap is our drinking water being affected
> by drain water?! There's your bigger issue right
> there! ...if that's even true.

It's true. The shit flushed ends up downstream. People flush all sorts of weird shit that ends up in the fish and food supply. They say to throw away most in the trash. Ironically, they say the good shit like Demerol, OxyContin, and Percocet should be flushed.

Enigma Wrote:
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> How the crap is our drinking water being affected
> by drain water?! There's your bigger issue right
> there! ...if that's even true.

Where do you think drain water goes? Do you think it magically disappears once it's past the trap in your toilet? Sorry, Charlie, but it actually goes down a series of pipes to a waste water treatment facility. That facility is designed to get most of the icky stuff out like solids, bacteria, and some standard poluting chemicals (Nitrates, phosphates, etc) so that it doesn't end up fertilizing algae and crap. The treated water is then pumped into a river or some other external place.

Unfortunately, the waste treatment facilities aren't designed to get rid of dissolved medication in the water. As a result, there are lots of medications that go from toilet to river completely untouched.

Hank Moody Wrote:
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> Ironically, they say the
> good shit like Demerol, OxyContin, and Percocet
> should be flushed.

According to the FDA, it's because "Flushing these medicines will get rid of them right away and help keep your family and pets safe."(1) I guess their stated concern is that little Johnny or Sparky may find them in the trash and consume them, leading to potential overdose.

Of course, what they don't say is that addicts are happy to go through people's trash in order to get their next fix.

Sources:
(1) - http://www.fda.gov/drugs/resourcesforyou/consumers/buyingusingmedicinesafely/ensuringsafeuseofmedicine/safedisposalofmedicines/ucm186187.htm

Hey, it's a LOT better than what's in all our food so...

I'd rather have a little trace amount of mood-enhancing Zoloft or Oxy than high fructose corn syrup. :\

Besides, reality check people...think about the parts per million of a few pills here and there vs the entire filtered water supply. It might as well be a homeopathic tincture (also just as harmless/useless). Once again, some interest group using FUD to make themselves look important. This whole pill thing is not even an issue.

Someone post some concentration numbers equal to or even higher than (or heck, even remotely close to) the levels of toxic cleaners et al, then I'll care.

Enigma Wrote:
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> Hey, it's a LOT better than what's in all our food
> so...

Maybe, maybe not. That's not the issue we're discussing though.

> I'd rather have a little trace amount of
> mood-enhancing Zoloft or Oxy than high fructose
> corn syrup. :\

Those medications have plenty of undesirable side-effects. They can also interact with other drugs leading to life threatening conditions. For example, Zoloft and NyQuil have the following interactions:

- potentiate the risk of serotonin syndrome, which is a rare but serious and potentially fatal condition thought to result from hyperstimulation of brainstem 5-HT1A and 2A receptors.
- Central nervous system- and/or respiratory-depressant effects may be additively or synergistically increased in patients taking multiple drugs that cause these effects, especially in elderly or debilitated patients.

Source: http://www.drugs.com/drug-interactions/nyquil-with-zoloft-55-1943-2057-1348.html

Those don't sound like fun...

> Besides, reality check people...think about the
> parts per million of a few pills here and there vs
> the entire filtered water supply. It might as
> well be a homeopathic tincture (also just as
> harmless/useless). Once again, some interest
> group using FUD to make themselves look important.
> This whole pill thing is not even an issue.

Do you have any published, peer-reviewed studies to back up your claim that it's harmless? I'm not saying you're wrong, I just want to review the information you have.

Personally, I don't know of any studies that say the concentration of medications in the water is currently dangerous. All I can point to are studies saying pharmaceuticals are present in drinking water.

- http://extension.usu.edu/waterquality/htm/homeownerswater/pharmaceuticals/
- http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/publications/2011/pharmaceuticals/en/
- http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/pharmawater_site/

> Someone post some concentration numbers equal to
> or even higher than (or heck, even remotely close
> to) the levels of toxic cleaners et al, then I'll
> care.

The question isn't whether the concentrations rival those of known toxins, the question is whether the current concentrations are harmful. I don't know the answer to that, it likely requires mores study.

Some questions for you though - Is the toilet the only safe way you have to dispose of your drugs? Would throwing them in the trash be acceptable? If not, why not?

"The city is working with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to collect unused, unwanted medication from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. September 29 in the police station lobby, 3730 Old Lee Highway.

The city will accept prescription and OTC pills, ointments and liquids in sealed containers.

Drop-off is anonymous; no identification or prescription information is required. For information, call 703-385-7966. "


What about the people that get pulled over and then taken to jail because the prescription pill bottle has no sticker with patient info on it? On this day can they just claim they were taking them to the drop off and not get charged?

Snark Vark Wrote:
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> Personally, I don't know of any studies that say
> the concentration of medications in the water is
> currently dangerous. All I can point to are
> studies saying pharmaceuticals are present in
> drinking water.
>
>

I don't need studies...I have a brain, and that brain can do really rough estimates of what even a few thousand pills a year would be in our water supply. But if you like pretty numbers then fine: Fairfax water supply is 8.3 billion gallons at peak with 75 million gallions PER DAY available for distribution. So let's even say on the absurd side that each pill weighs an average of 500gram and let's say a full 90 day supply is dumped. And now let's even say an absurd amount of these pills are flushed, like 10,000-90day supplies. 450,000 grams of pills (and mind you only a fraction of that pill is the Rx). 0.014mg/L of the actual pill in the water table, and that's not considering the filtration of treated sewage or the fact that the amount of Rx per pill is more like 100mg avg (making that more like .003mg/L). AND that's if 900,000 pills were all flushed in one day and using my absurd amounts. In reality the numbers of the amount that make it to your tap are probably even barely measurable by instruments (like 1x10-n mg/L).

Sorry but the concentrations it would take to even consider anything measurable, much less toxic... Like I said, just FUD from people wanting to seem important.


http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dmb/fy2012/adopted/cip/water_supply.pdf

Enigma Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Snark Vark Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Personally, I don't know of any studies that say
> > the concentration of medications in the water is
> > currently dangerous. All I can point to are
> > studies saying pharmaceuticals are present in
> > drinking water.
>
> I don't need studies...I have a brain, and that
> brain can do really rough estimates of what even a
> few thousand pills a year would be in our water
> supply. But if you like pretty numbers then fine:
> Fairfax water supply is 8.3 billion gallons at
> peak with 75 million gallions PER DAY available
> for distribution. So let's even say on the absurd
> side that each pill weighs an average of 500gram
> and let's say a full 90 day supply is dumped. And
> now let's even say an absurd amount of these pills
> are flushed, like 10,000-90day supplies. 450,000
> grams of pills (and mind you only a fraction of
> that pill is the Rx). 0.014mg/L of the actual pill
> in the water table, and that's not considering the
> filtration of treated sewage or the fact that the
> amount of Rx per pill is more like 100mg avg
> (making that more like .003mg/L). AND that's if
> 900,000 pills were all flushed in one day and
> using my absurd amounts. In reality the numbers
> of the amount that make it to your tap are
> probably even barely measurable by instruments
> (like 1x10-n mg/L).
>
> Sorry but the concentrations it would take to even
> consider anything measurable, much less toxic...
> Like I said, just FUD from people wanting to seem
> important.
>
>
> http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dmb/fy2012/adopted/cip/water_supply.pdf

So your brain says it's safe. Got it. I feel so much better now.

To be honest, I'm not exactly hoarding bottled water (which normally comes from a municipal water supply anyways) and activated charcoal. Hell, I'm not even using a Britta filter - it's probably not enough to be concerned about for humans. The studies simply indicate pharmaceuticals are ending up in the water supply. I can't control how my body metabolizes any medications I take, but I can control where my old medications end up.

That being said, humans aren't the only ones drinking the water, there's plenty of other species to be concerned about. The topic definitely needs more study.

As for FUD - the studies don't have any of that. They simply state "We analyzed these places, we found these drugs." Environmental groups may run with it and spew their own FUD, but they're going to do that anyways. Anyhow, the whole point of science is to study things and report findings. Long term studies with large samples can be used to find correlations and even theorize at causation. A study isn't invalid simply because the findings don't align with your beliefs. A study is invalid because its sample is flawed, it's methods are flawed, or its analysis is flawed.

Anyhow, like I said before, I'm still throwing my old pills in the trash instead of dumping them down the toilet. My trash can is right next to the toilet anyways, so it's not any great inconvenience. When my wife's aunt passed away, it wasn't difficult to take her meds to a pharmacy in town for disposal either. God knows what they did with it, but at least I know we didn't add them to the water table...