Between 10 and 30 percent of all prescription and over-the-counter drugs sold are left unconsumed, according to a State of Washington report, and all those leftover medications pose significant risks to public health and the environment. Drugs that are flushed down the toilet or tossed in the trash can – rather than properly disposed of – can end up in oceans and waterways, threatening both marine life and human health. Meanwhile, many individuals don’t get rid of their unused medications at all; they simply store the drugs in their medicine cabinets – a practice that can lead to drug misuse and abuse.

CVS Health has decided it wants to do its part to stem the tide of prescription and over-the-counter medications filling up our medicine cabinets and clogging our waterways. In 2013, the retailer and health care company launched its CVS/pharmacy Medication Disposal for Safer Communities Program, a grant initiative in which the company distributes drug collection bins to police departments and municipalities, so they can set up environmentally responsible local drug disposal programs. These specialized drug disposal units meet federal requirements to collect and securely store prescription medications that are also considered “controlled substances” – drugs that have the potential for abuse or dependence and are highly regulated by law enforcement agencies.

Since the program began awarding grants last year, CVS/pharmacy has donated 275 of these drug collection bins to localities, and all these bins are currently being used for community drop-off programs, said Eileen Howard Boone, the company’s senior vice president of corporate social responsibility and philanthropy. The first 100 bins collected nearly 6,500 pounds of old medications in their first six months of use. The goal of the initiative, Boone said, is to award a total of 1,000 drug collection bins to local governments across the U.S.

CVS/pharmacy has also been an active participant in National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, a joint-program of the Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration to collect unwanted prescription medications across the country twice a year. Last year’s take-back days collected a total of 1.4 million pounds of medication, Boone said. CVS/pharmacy hosted more than 400 of these drug collection events, she said, allowing law enforcement agencies to take advantage of the retailer’s convenient location and traffic access – rather than sending the public out to remote hazardous waste facilities or inconvenient police stations to drop off medications.

Continue reading at ENN affiliate, Triple Pundit.

Medication image via Shutterstock.

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