Where Can I Properly Dispose of My Medications?
Scheduled Events
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Clean Out Your Medicine Cabinet is a collaborative effort of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality’s Proper Medication Program and the University of Utah Poison Control Center along with event specific partners. Clean Out Your Medicine Cabinet are special community medication take-back events where Utah households are encouraged to clean out their medicine cabinets to remove expired, unused, and no longer needed medications. These items should then be brought to either a permanent disposal community location or the Clean Out Your Medicine Cabinet special event for appropriate disposal.
Clean Out Your Medicine Cabinet aims to prevent poisonings, prevent abuse, prevent misuse, and protect the environment. Poisonings, abuse, and misuse often occur when people store old medications in their homes. The presence of these items make them accessible to young children who may be poisoned by them. Older children and teens may abuse these products or experiment with them for non-medical reasons. Adults and the elderly may save medications, such as antibiotics, for use at a later date. This is called misuse and can lead to antibiotic resistance as well as a delay in treatment of a condition that may be harmful. Often, when people choose to get rid of their medications, they may flush them down the toilet which can lead to contamination of our water supply. Bringing medications to a permanent collection site or a Clean Out Your Medicine Cabinet special event can prevent all of this!
UDEQ organizes Clean Out Your Medicine Cabinet events in April as part of Earth Day events and in October as part of national Pharmacy Week.
April 2012 Events:
Saturday, April 28, 2012, DEA will coordinate its fourth collaborative effort with state and local law enforcement agencies as part of the National Drug Take Back Initiative, focused on removing potentially dangerous controlled substances and other medications from our nations medicine cabinets and preventing improper disposal of them. More info will follow...
Find a permanent disposal site in your area.
...check back later for more information.
Updated: November 30, 2011