Prescriptions disposal
 

Is there a place in TV to dispose of prescription medication?

The library in Pinellas is giving away a product that allows us to disolve the prescription and make it safe for disposal.

The country periodically collects unused prescriptions.

Question though. Our garbage is burnt. Why can we not put the pills in our garbage for incineration?

It can be stolen before it gets to the incinerator. The Rx bottles aren't waterproof, and can get wet if it's raining, and dissolve into the water system before it gets to the incinerator.

What you can do, however, is fill the bottle with vinegar and baking soda, which will render the drugs inert. Don't do that with nitroglycerine tablets though.


But both CVS and Walgreens accept unused Rx medications.

Walgreens.com shows the store on 27/441 has a disposal kiosk. This ought be golf-cart accessible.

The CVS on 466 near CostCo should be a drop-off location and is also golf-cart accessible.

This site allows you to search for locations. (NOTE: The site does not include Publix locations or Sheriff Office locations which might offer drug-disposal services)

Both the FDA and EPA have guidelines for disposing medications in the trash.

The incinerated garbage makes a lot of sense as medicine that is turned in at a pharmacy or govt agency is likely incinerated.

(I wouldn't worry about the chance that someone might go through my bag of trash out of the thousands of bags of trash on the one day I decide to discard medication)

(I also wouldn't try dissolving medication in vinegar to make it inert. Even if that works for some it wouldn't work for all, it was already pointed out that those bottles aren't waterproof so if your bag of trash spends much time in a pond it could be a problem, and I would likely spill something while I was dissolving the pills and wind up washing it down the drain)

The Wildwood police station has or at least had a locked container for the disposal of prescription drugs, you might want to give them a call first.

The police location at Pinellas Plaza also has a locked disposal system in the lobby.

I don't trust anyone to dispose of prescriptions. Why would you trust anyone? This is a DIY project. Google it.

I have and I provided the links. What did you find that was different?

If I want to dispose of prescription drugs, they will never be used again. But if I turn them over to a third party, I have no idea if they will be reused. I don't trust drug stores or the police.

Where exactly is the police location in Pinellas Plaza?

Not sure if the same but I remember taking my mom’s insulin items to the fire station back home. Maybe they will accept your type of medication, if service is available around here.

FYI: if stored properly, most medications only lose about 5% of the efficacy over 30 years. Don’t quote me on this, but I was told this by my own doctor in Wyoming.

So, why destroy what could be a valuable (and tradable) resource in a zombie apocalypse or, more likely, a currency collapse situation?

Publix accepts them if there are no sharps.

Not necessarily every Publix

According to the Publix website, the Colony, Southern Trace, La Plaza Grande, and Mulberry Grove locations have Drug Disposal Service. Not sure what they would tell you if you asked them to take back medication at another location.

prescription medication
 

Any CVS store has a box to drop prescription medications into….
I would think Walgreens also provides the same service…

Not all Walgreens will take Rx drugs. That might also be true of CVS. Call before you go.

I have been told that County Sheriffs will take them.

The police station, on Powell, near the county building where we vote and get a driver's license, has a lock box in the lobby for unused Rx.

Both the Walgreens and CVS websites allow you to search for locations that accept medication drop-offs. Not all locations are listed.

Search
 

This works too:

Google Maps

Cvs
 

CVS on 466 is where I take mine. They have a lock box in the back by the pharmacy (like a shred bin) that you just drop them in.

You can drop off prescription drugs at the sheriffs office. They will dispose of them.

I go to the police station on Rt. 466 and pick up DisposeRx. It is a powder that solidfies like cement. Just open the pill bottle, add 2/3 full with warm water, add the DisposeRx powder, shake for 30 seconds and it will become hard like cement in 10 minutes. Then just put the bottle in trash. I keep extra at home for when I need to safely dispose of a prescription.

P.S. I forgot DisposeRx is free at the police station. Get a few so you have them on hand.

You can buy DisposeRX and other similar products from Amazon. No need to go anywhere or to waste taxpayer money.

If it goes in the trash after being hardened why not just put in trash to be incinerated? I do not think folks here will go thru my garbage looking for medicinal drugs.

I agree. This program is a waste of taxpayer money. Why can't people figure out how to do a few things for themselves?

Mulberry Publix

There are, at least, two MedSafe containers at the VA Clinic in the very north of TV. The clinic is golf cart accessible, but is a very long ride for many of us. I do not know if the containers are strictly for veterans.

The police stock them, it's part of their budget to provide them for their residents. The only time they're wasted is if they have them, and no one takes them.

Unless you have some real reason to believe that old medications in the home or put into the trash will be taken, why spend money, taxpayer's or your own, on anything?

Some homes have individuals who would misuse the medication - they need the extra handling. While it seems a stretch of the imagination, there could be a situation where it is known that people are ripping open trash bags just to see what they might find. If you feel you are in one of those situations, make use of the resources available. If you are not then maybe it's better to leave the resources for those that really do need them.

The funds to stock them do come from the taxes we pay.

Exactly. For people who want to DIY, there's the vinegar and baking soda solution to neutralize rx meds. As someone mentioned up-thread, vinegar won't do the job. It's vinegar AND baking soda.