Apparently back in the day people used to get rid of their old drugs by flushing them down the toilet or dumping them in a storm drain. Because that's what they were told to do! I don't know, even if someone told me to do that, I am not so sure I would. Which leaves me in the same place as the person asking this question. Lots of pills, no idea what to do with them. This question was one I had as well.
This site, smartrxdisposal, gives some tips and pointers but I am still weirded out by the advice. They advise putting the drugs (mashed up and liquid added for pills so it becomes some kind of crazy drug paste) in a ziploc bag, adding kitty litter or coffee grounds in order to make it unpalatable for children and pets and then throwing it away. Gah. A nice addition to the land fill. Some cities and towns include prescription medications on their hazardous waste clean-up days. (My town, alas, is not one of them.) But they probably go by the industry standard of putting them in a bag with something undesirable to children and pets (What about peas? I hate peas, and so do most children.) and hucking it in the trash.
If I were a chemist perhaps I could give some advice on how to neutralize the drug before trashing it, but I am not. So I guess my advice is to be a lemming, and just throw them away following the instructions at smartrxdisposal.
UPDATE: Apparently you should still flush your oxycontin. Huh? Plus a bunch of other drugs. Thanks FDA!
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