Medications- return program boosted by website

B. C. pharmacists want to increase the amount of expired and unused drugs people return for proper disposal with a new website and pharmacy locator map. Officially launching on Monday, they are designed to encourage people to not dispose of their drugs in the garbage or by flushing them down the toilet.

Virtually all pharmacies in B. C. ( check www.medicationsreturn.ca) accept unused or expired drugs. It’s as easy as bringing them in to your local pharmacy, said David Pavan, a pharmacist with Shoppers Drug Mart in Vancouver and a director of the B. C. Pharmacy Association.

It’s important to divert unused and expired drugs from landfills and water systems because some can have adverse effects in the environment, said Pavan.

In 2012, 36,000 kilograms of drugs were returned in B. C. as part of the program, which is free to the public and paid for by pharmacies. The return program accepts prescription and over- the- counter drugs, and natural health products, but not empty bottles. The drugs are picked up by a disposal company and incinerated.

While it may seem a waste to thrown out all those drugs, you can’t recycle them, said Pavan.

The U. S. Department of Defence had success a decade ago in extending the shelf life of some of its large storehouse of drugs. It tested drugs that had expired and found they were still good, but that’s because they were stored in a humiditycontrolled environment, noted Pavan. Most household drugs are stored in the bathroom, where humidity fluctuates, he said.