DISPOSE OF MEDICATIONS PROPERLY ON NATIONAL PRESCRIPTION DRUG TAKE BACK DAY
- National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is April 28. Mesa County residents can get rid of their unwanted or expired medications safely at two local locations:
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- Walgreens at 240 W. Park Dr. in Grand Junction, and
- Canyon View Pharmacy, 2373 G Road, Suite 120 in Grand Junction.
- Neither locations take liquid medications.
- These locations take back medications all year, not just April 28.
- Getting rid of your unwanted or expired prescriptions helps to keep Mesa County kids from using them illegally.
- Twenty percent of Mesa County high schoolers said it would be sort of or very easy to find prescription drugs without an actual prescription.
- About sixteen percent of students report having used prescription drugs without a prescription one or more times in their lives.
- Flushing your medications or throwing them down the drain or in the trash isn’t a safe option.
- Medicine isn’t always completely cleaned from our water at the sewage treatment plant. Medications you flush or toss into your drain could end up polluting our waters, hurting our environment or harming our food and water supply.
- Human medicine is the leading cause of pet poisonings and those most frequently happen when pets find them in the garbage.
- Keep your medicines in the bottle when you return them.
- Don’t crush your medicine – doing so can create a dangerously high dose that could accidentally be taken in through skin contact or breathing.
- If you can’t get to a take-back location or have a liquid medication to dispose of, follow these steps:
- Remove the label or cross out any identifying information on the container.
- Mix the medicine with something that can’t be eaten, like kitty litter, coffee grounds or saw dust in a sealable bag, empty can or other container that won’t leak.
- Wrap that container in newspaper or a plain brown bag to conceal its contents and place it into your trash on the day your trash is collected.
- Mesa County Public Health monitors prescription drug use and is working to decrease the number of residents who use prescription drugs illegally.
For more information, visit health.mesacounty.us.