Spring cleaning is around the corner, so it is time to create a plan! A great first place to begin lurks in our cabinets: our medications and supplements. Because unused, expired, and unsecured medications and supplements pose a danger to our health—a critical danger to children and pets, we need to know how to safely dispose of them.
For years, we erroneously assumed that flushing or tossing them in the garbage was acceptable; however, we now know those are unsafe practices. Water treatment plants cannot adequately clean the water of all the chemicals contained in the medications. Instead, they end up in our drinking water, crops, livestock, and wildlife, which we then consume, posing a threat to our health and wellbeing. Tossing those medications and supplements into the garbage leaves them to be plucked out and consumed by children, animals, and the homeless or other individuals, posing a threat to their wellbeing, or discarded in landfills and absorbed into our groundwater and soil. Knowing how to safely dispose of our meds and supplements is of utmost importance for our health and wellbeing. Fortunately, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN) has a program in place for us: the Rx Take-Back Box Program (aka the Safe Trips for Scripts Prevention Program).
OBN’s Rx Take-Back Box Program is easily accessible to anyone for safe disposal of medications. OBN placed white disposal boxes (like blue USPS mail collection boxes) in the lobbies of many law enforcement agencies. One such box can be found in the lobby of the Bristow Police Department. Other locations within Creek County include the Mounds, Sapulpa, and Mannford police department lobbies as well as that of the Creek County Sheriff ’s Office. We need only to step inside the lobby to drop off our medications inside the box. No questions asked. No ID required.
However, a few restrictions regarding how and what can be discarded in the boxes do exist. For example, biohazardous material and sharps such as syringes are not allowed to be disposed of via the boxes. Also, medications need to be in original containers. Do not collect pills in large containers to drop into the boxes. Restrictions and instructions can be found on each box. Feel free to check out OBN’s website for more information: https://www.obndd.ok.gov/
Finally, a few other local options via our pharmacies for safe drug disposal existed in the past and intermittently. Some still exist. For example, Super H Pharmacy partnered with OSU Community Wellness Programs last year to offer free small kits to safely dispose of medications. Likewise, Walmart Pharmacy has offered similar packets in the past. Reach out to local pharmacies, visit OBN’s website, or check out an OBN take-back box to learn more today. Most importantly, create a plan and safely remove and dispose of unused and expired medications and supplements for a healthier family and community.