Taking care of old drugs

From the Georgia (BC) Straight:
Taken a look in your medicine cabinet lately? If you're like me, a tangle of old tubes, bottles, and blister packs is collecting dust on the shelves.

As it turns out, I've been wrong to hang on to my old medicine, but right not to throw it in the garbage or flush it down the toilet. According to many environmental and government organizations, including Health Canada, drugs sitting in landfills or drifting in waterways can be harmful. A section on the Health Canada Web site called "It's Your Health" (www.hc-sc.gc.ca/iyh-vsv/index_e.html) cautions readers about the risks. "There is growing evidence," the site reads, "that throwing out or flushing into the water system prescription drugs, nonprescription drugs and other health products may have a harmful effect on the environment.…The presence of these substances in the environment is emerging as an important national and international issue." The site also notes that such substances may add to the problem of antibiotic resistance. ...more

A date with drugs

From the Toronto Star:
Hack, wheeze, sputter ..... achoo! You feel something coming on.

Swing open the medicine cabinet, reach for the cough syrup and out dribbles sludge.

If it were Buckley’s, the taste is so bad (but effective!), it would be hard to tell if it had gone off.

What about that leftover prescription of antibiotic? Do you ingest it and risk coming down with God knows what?

Spring cleaning target zones may well include your medicine cabinet. Just like the best-before dates on food — to which we pay at least a little attention — there are expiry dates on your prescription and over-the-counter drugs. ...more