Having prescription drugs in your medicine cabinet makes your home more of a target for burglary or theft by drug abusers.
When you recycle any unused prescription drugs, you reduce the risk of pets, children and teenagers coming into accidental possession of them.
Prescription medication misuse by teens in on the rise and is currently the most common of any type of drug misuse.
By recycling, and not flushing, unused prescription drugs, you are keeping them out of our lakes, streams and drinking water systems.
Disposal of Prescription Drugs
Never flush unused drugs down the toilet or the drain in order to reduce water contamination.
Dispose of your unused drugs by placing them in the trash if a collection program is not available:
Take your prescription drugs out of their original containers.
Grind and mix drugs with an undesirable substance, such as cat litter or used coffee grounds.
Put the mixture into a disposable container with a lid, such as an empty margarine tub, or into a sealable bag.
Conceal or remove any personal information, including Rx number, on the empty containers by covering it with black permanent marker or duct tape, or by scratching it off.
Place the sealed container with the mixture, and the empty drug containers, in the trash.
Some local pharmacies will accept leftover prescription drugs. To find a list of the locations, go to www.nebraskameds.org and enter your city or zip code. You will then be given a map and a list of all locations in your area that accept leftover prescription drugs.