Dispose of expired, unused prescription pills

In the United States, deaths resulting from the misuse of prescription drugs now outnumber overdose deaths from cocaine and heroin combined.

In an effort to prevent pill misuse, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson has several sites available for proper disposal.

“We have a prescription drop-off at all three pharmacies on base,” said George Mongar, Army Substance Abuse Program employee assistance coordinator. “They are available anytime the pharmacies are open and are completely anonymous.”

Ridding homes of potentially dangerous, expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs is one way to combat the overdose epidemic.

“Most people keep their prescribed medication in their medicine cabinet, which might possibly be the worst place to keep it,” Mongar said.

With easy access and availability, medicine cabinets can be highly susceptible to misuse or abuse.

“We also tend to forget about medicine once it’s in the medicine cabinet, and over periods of time they can begin to expire,” Mongar explained. “Soldiers who take their prescription medications six months after they were prescribed and pop positive on a uranalysis could even see their careers come to an end.”

Medication located in medicine cabinets can also lose their effectiveness or become harmful, due to the high temperatures and humidity in bathrooms, Mongar said.

In addition to safety hazards to the public, drugs can pose a serious threat to the larger environment.

Many people flush unwanted drugs down the toilet, affecting several aspects of our water system.

“Our wastewater system is not designed to filter out prescription drugs,” said Andrew Toller, ASAP prevention coordinator. “Once it’s gone through the cycle, these drugs are making their way back into water systems and then into the bays, affecting wildlife.”

All expired or unused medications collected at the disposal bins at JBER are incinerated and properly disposed of. For information, call your pharmacy.