Many people have unused or expired medications cluttering up their bathrooms, and might be wondering how to get rid of it?
Executive Director of the New Brunswick Pharmacists’ Association Paul Blanchard explains what you should do.
“Probably the first place to contact would be the pharmacy through which they were acquired,” says Blanchard. “So if you had a prescription from your regular pharmacy, you could contact that pharmacy and ask if they accept your medication.”
He says medications have to be destroyed safely and effectively, and that generally means incineration.
“Pharmacies will have large buckets in their backrooms, so when those buckets become full that’s when the process begins I guess in terms of sending them back to the incineration process,” says Blanchard. “But the costs related to that process is really borne by the pharmacies here in New Brunswick.”
He says studies have been done showing traces of birth control and anti-depressants in salmon in the St. Lawrence waterway.
“And so we know that medication is being flushed down the toilet, and going down our waterways, and that’s really less than an ideal place to have medications returned, so incineration is a preferred method,” says Blanchard. “And we also know that people just leave their medications in their medicine cabinet.”
Blanchard says those meds can be subject to abuse or being used for other purposes.
He says it’s not just an environmental issue, but also one of public safety.
