The prescription drugs you take help you get healthy work how you dispose of the prescription drugs you don't take me help our communities stay healthy. That is the message of drug abuse expert urging proper disposal of unused or expired prescriptions. A new report by the UC San Diego school of pharmacy found that most people surveyed are not getting radio -- rid of their old drugs the right way. Joining me as Dr. Nathan Paynter a member of the San Diego prescription drug abuse track best task force. Thank you to the program. Thank you for having me. This was an online survey how did most people say they were getting rid of their old prescriptions? Most people said they got rid of their old prescriptions by throwing them in the trash or flushing them in the toilet. An overwhelming number of people responded that they keep them in their medicine cabinet or in their closets until they move or something? Until they disappear or they move or they decide they will throw them away. Why is throwing old meds down the trash a bad idea. The biggest concern is that they eventually may end up in the water supply or other environmental impact that we can't really get a good grasp on how much that will impact the community and environment. What are the risks of keeping them around the house. It is a major source of younger teenagers and young adults taking medications that may be controlled like opioid medications and abusing them. They can sell them or improperly use them. What is the right way to get rid of old prescriptions? Several different ways. We have a great resource here. We have either the DEA which is happening on it April 30, we have in every Sheriff station and most police stations drop off boxes. You can take your meds when they are open and drop them off no questions asked. Do doctors or pharmacist tell patients how to dispose of the old medicines that they are not taking? Another great question. Most of the respondents said no, nobody talks to them about it. The biggest source of information comes from the media. That is why we appreciate this opportunity so much. The message being heard is the correct one. People are hearing from the media that you should dispose of your medications in these methods. Healthcare professionals do provide that information. Should they. Is it something that the medical community is thinking about, maybe we should be a little more proactive about this? Absolutely. Some physicians and pharmacists are starting to provide that information. The biggest barrier is making sure they're pharmacists and health providers know where the sources of take back our. Just to tell them to take it to a takeback box may not be enough. They need to be able to find a local collate -- collection place. It might be convenient to have those takeback boxes in the pharmacy is that possible? It will be hopefully some. The DEA change regulations that will allow pharmacies to take back on a voluntary basis. California the third of pharmacy will specify how that can be done. Hopefully those regulations will be out sometime this year. At that time, hopefully more pharmacies will choose that as an option. It would be one of the most convenient ways to do it. In collecting old soda bodice -- bottles and cans, people get a slight rebate when they return them. How about something like that for prescription drugs? That is an interesting thought and a question that somebody more knowledgeable than me will have to ask who will pay the rebate. That is a another source of debate. Who will pay that? I don't know the answer. In the meantime find a Job -- drug collection box. April 30 from 10 to to. They can go to the website and put in their ZIP Code and find a outlet. I have been speaking with Dr. Nathan Paynter with the school of pharmacy. Thank you very much.
Prescription drug abuse touched Sherrie Rubin's life in a personal way.
The San Diego mom's son, Aaron, survived an OxyContin overdose. He can't walk. He can't feed himself. He can't talk. But his mom can. And she's using her energy to keep the same thing from happening to other young people.
Right now she wants to help keep dangerous prescription drugs out of young people's hands.
"Experts say that young adults get most of their medications from the medicine cabinet, either in their home or at their grandparents. That's something we can change with a very simple action," Rubin said.
A new survey put together by the UC San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences found many people simply don't know what to do to get rid of unused or expired drugs.
Thirty percent of respondents throw drugs in the trash, while 15 percent flush them down the drain. A third just keep the drugs around the house. More than 80 percent of those polled say their health care provider never talked to them about the issue.
Proper disposal keeps medicines out of landfills and waterways and protects children.
"We want to be able to get the pills out of the medicine cabinet, which is one source of pills to get out into the street. We have been working with the prescription drug abuse task force, pharmacies and physicians to educate that community," said Thomas Lenox of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Nine of 10 people surveyed thought putting collection bins at pharmacies made sense. State officials are currently considering rules that would let that happen.
Meanwhile, there are safe disposal options. San Diego County officials have set up more than 40 collection boxes, most of them in public buildings or police stations. A list of collection locations can be found here.
In April, there will be a national collection day when expired medications can be turned over to authorities.
