Spring is a time of renewal and cleaning. When you are dusting the shelves and cleaning the floors, don’t forget about the medicine cabinet. It’s likely filled with once helpful medicines that now pose a significant danger to your family’s health and safety, and to the environment
That’s where Amy Tiemeier, Pharm.D., assistant professor of pharmacy practice can help. She will explain to your audience:
- Whether expiration dates really mean anything
- How long is too long to hold onto a prescription medication
- The best place to store medicine to make sure it stays fresher longer
- How to store your medicine safely to avoid accidental poisoning of children or pets
- How to safely dispose of your unwanted or outdated medicine
There’s another reason to review medications in your home. The majority of abused prescription drugs come from the home medicine cabinet and are passed along through family and friends.
You shouldn’t just throw away old medication. It can easily be pulled out of the trash by a child or pet. Flushing down the toilet is dangerous as well. Wastewater treatment plants are not equipped to filter out medication and the drugs end up in the water supply and environment.
There is a better way. A free medication drop off will be underway at dozens of locations in the area on Saturday, April 28, 2012.
St. Louis College of Pharmacy, the City of St. Louis, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) are partnering to allow residents to drop-off expired and unused prescription and over-the-counter medications at sites throughout the region.
What: Medicine Disposal Initiative
Date: Saturday, April 28, 2012
Time: 10 a.m.-2p.m.
Location: Dozens of locations throughout the region.