what do you do with left over medicine?

[Anonymous]

I do not think throwing it into the toilet is the right answer as it winds up in the water supply.

How do I dispose?

thanks

[Anonymous]

There was something on this in the Post recently. Put some sand or kitty litter in the bottle to absorb the medicine. Double wrap in plastic and throw away.

These precautions should limit the amount of leaching into soil.

[Anonymous]

Some pharmacies will take them back for disposal, and some states/localities have programs, but I'm not sure about the DC area. Also check with your county/city hazardous waste disposal program and see if they will accept them.

It is recommended that some medicines be flushed, but from the list it appears that those are on the list because they're the types of drugs that are attractive to illegal drug users like oxycodone.

From the Office of White House Drug policy (issued in concert with the FDA until they figure out something better)

http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/drugfact/factsht/proper_disposal.html