Ethical disposal of psychiatric drugs

[anytriptaline]

I use an analytical scale for my taper, currently less than 1mg of amitriptyline, and around 7mg of weight

 

I want to try to quit entirely before the end of the year, but in case it's not possible, I want to try to use a liquid taper to see if it might help getting into lower doses

 

My main issue is. How is everyone disposing the remaining unused liquid? I don't feel throwing it in the kitchen sink is the most ethical solution

[ChessieCat]

I have never even thought about this.

 

I've just done a search and found this using the search term disposal of prescription medication:

 

https://www.webmd.com/connect-to-care/addiction-treatment-recovery/prescription/how-to-dispose-of-prescription-drugs

 

I suggest that you ask your pharmacist.

[FeralCatman]

I was informed by 2 separate septic system companies, one at my old house and a new one at my new location, that if you take chronic medication you will need to have your tank pumped more often. I found this out after going with the standard pumping frequency and the tank overflowed in to my leech-field and clogged it. I had to shell out $1200 to have it pumped out and have the leech-field cleaned out and restored to operation. As always I learned the hard way. Turns out that chronic medication can kill off the bacteria that is necessary to break down the solids in the tank. Just another example of how toxic all of this stuff really is. Here is an article which discusses this.

 

https://groundstone.ca/2018/07/pharmaceuticals-and-septic-systems/

 

Additionally, if you dispose of medications into the sewer system, it is being found that medications discharged into water bodies are having adverse effects on aquatic life. Here is an article which discusses this and there are other more recent articles you can find as well. They are finding that psychiatric medications discharged into the water are affecting feeding and breeding patterns of aquatic life.

 

https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/drugs-in-the-water

[Ariel]

Thank you for this @FeralCatman

 

Excerpt from the article linked to in above comment:

 

4 ways to reduce your pharmaceutical footprint

 

Limit bulk purchases. 

Volume discounts make the price attractive, but big bottles of unused pills create an opportunity for medications to end up in the water.

 

Use drug take-back programs. 

A federal law went into effect in 2010 that makes it easier for those programs to be organized at a local level, so you may see one in your community. The federal Drug Enforcement Agency has held two national drug take-back days and is likely to organize some more.

 

Do not flush unused medicines or pour them down the drain. 

This is the very least you can do. But the FDA advises that certain powerful narcotic pain medications should be flushed because of concerns about accidental overdose or illicit use unless you can find a drug take-back program that will accept them. We've posted a list of the narcotics on our Web site at /healthextra.

 

Be careful about how you throw medications into the trash. 

Medications thrown into the trash end up being incinerated or buried in landfills, which is preferable to flushing them or pouring them down the drain. If you put them in the trash, remove them from the packaging, crush them, and seal them in a plastic bag with some water. You're supposed to add sawdust, cat litter, coffee grounds, or some other unappealing material to the bag. That isn't for environmental reasons, but to cut down on the chances that a child or animal might eat the contents. You should also be careful to peel off any identifying information from containers of prescription medicine.

 

 

https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/drugs-in-the-water