Medication Return Programs Protect Water Supply, Public Safety and Our Children

What do you do with your presscription and over-the-counter drugs and vitamins when they've expired or are no longer needed or wanted?  The answers vary depending on customary habits and household rituals. 

Some of the more common, though not safest, means of disposal of such meds include:

• Periodic clean out of the medicine cabinet to remove medicines that have outlived their purpose with disposal in your household trash. 
• Flushing unneeded drugs down the toilet or kitchen sink drain.
• Breaking up or mashing the meds, disposing as above.

Sorry, none of those meet safety standards that protect our water supply, environment and children who might inadvertently or intentionally use such drugs idling away space around the house.

The safest and best way to ensure the public safety is to participate in a Medication Return Program such as the one taking place on Saturday, April 28, 2012, at the Southington Water Department whose facility is located at 605 West Queen Street in Southington, CT.  From 10 AM to 2 PM, this public safety service is free to the public and includes expired or unwanted prescription and over-the-counter medicines, including vitamins and veterinary medications.

Southington Town Council member, John C. Dobbins, R. Ph., stated that last year, six 55-gallon drums of medications and over 26,000 doses of controlled substance were handed over to the the police for proper disposal.

Behind this community program are the coordinated and dedicated efforts of the Southington and Bristol Water Departments, the Southington Police Department, STEPS, Southington Board of Education and Schools, Parents for a Change and the YMCA.  With the help of our citizens, this will be a successful and worthwhile community endeavor.

For a more comprehensive report, read medications-not-cure-for-watershed by Margaret Waage.
Author's note:  There's an ever-growing cast of good citizens working  together for the common good.  The diverse causes they serve with caring sensibility and responsibility connect us in the Quest for Common Ground.  It does take a village!