Don’t toss old medicines in the trash. Use these safe drop-offs around Missouri | Opinion

For more than a decade, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has hosted biannual National Prescription Drug Take Back Days to encourage safe medicine disposal. To date, this program has collected more than 9,000 tons of unwanted medicine — almost the weight of the Eiffel Tower. This Oct. 26 will mark another National Drug Take Back Day, allowing Missourians to dispose of unwanted medications with local police stations and other authorities.

While take back days are a good start, responsible medicine disposal is a year-round need for all Missourians, whether you have unwanted, unused or expired medications, and whether they’re prescribed or not. Expired medicines can become less effective or unsafe to take because of changes in their chemical composition. However, about one-third of Americans neglect to clean out their medicine cabinets annually, and one-fifth haven’t cleaned them in three years.

I lead the Pharmaceutical Product Stewardship Work Group, a nonprofit business league that promotes the responsible use, storage and disposal of household medicines through MyOldMeds.com. This October, we are celebrating National Drug Take Back Month to raise awareness of the upcoming DEA Take Back Day and highlight the many other resources available to Missourians year-round. Whether you live in Missouri, nearby, or across the country, October is the perfect month to clean out your medicine cabinet and dispose of medications responsibly.

MyOldMeds.com offers a national database of more than 23,000 free medicine disposal options available in all 50 states. Our database is updated twice a year, and easily searchable with our convenient locator tool. In Missouri, there are nearly 500 disposal options in communities statewide — including 15 within 5 miles of downtown Kansas City. These options are often located at pharmacies, grocery stores, fire and police stations, government buildings and medical centers. Many offer a simple and secure drop-off kiosk, while others provide mail-back envelopes that you can pick up and use to mail medication for disposal whenever you need to. We encourage all Missourians to make use of these resources throughout October, regardless of whether you can make it to a DEA-sponsored drop-off on Oct. 26.

Although a large part of our work is focused on secure medicine disposal, responsible medicine management starts with properly using and storing medicines at home. It’s important to always follow the dosage instructions shared by your health care provider or found on the label. Get in the routine of familiarizing yourself with the instructions of any medicine you take — even those you’ve taken before, as instructions may change. Reading and following these instructions will help the medicine you take be effective and achieve the desired treatment. When possible, store your medicine in a cool, dark place. Some medicines can break down, become less effective, or in rare cases become toxic when exposed to light, humidity or extreme temperatures.

Properly disposing of medications through a kiosk or mail-back envelope gives you peace of mind that the medications will be securely handled and destroyed. Proper management and disposal of household drugs also combats drug abuse, drug diversion, accidental ingestion and poisoning. Improper disposal of household drugs presents the risk that the drugs could be accessed by someone other than the intended recipient.

It is recommended that you proactively clean out your medicine cabinet every six months. The Food and Drug Administration recommends using secure drop-off locations such as the ones you can find on MyOldMeds.com, as they are the best disposal option. Medicine disposed of at these locations is secured until it can be safely incinerated. With options throughout your community, medicine disposal doesn’t have to be a challenge. You can incorporate it in your next trip to the pharmacy or grocery store.

This past DEA Take Back Day in April, more than 8 tons — about the weight of a school bus — of unwanted, unused or expired medicines were collected throughout Missouri. Many of us already know the importance of proper medicine disposal. With MyOldMeds.com, however, you don’t need to hold on to medicine until these biannual days. The resources identified by MyOldMeds.com are available year-round to make this process as convenient and easy as possible.

This Take Back Month, I encourage all Missouri residents to take advantage of the free, easy-to-use resources in your community, and share this important information with your loved ones. Together, we can all help keep our communities healthy.

Anne Vogel-Marr is the executive director of the Pharmaceutical Product Stewardship Work Group, a 501(c)(6) nonprofit for producers of branded and generic prescription and non-prescription pharmaceutical products.