{"id":801124,"date":"2019-11-07T13:13:49","date_gmt":"2019-11-07T20:13:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=374158"},"modified":"2019-11-07T13:13:49","modified_gmt":"2019-11-07T20:13:49","slug":"ask-eartha-be-sure-to-dispose-of-unused-medication-properly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/ask-eartha-be-sure-to-dispose-of-unused-medication-properly\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask Eartha: Be sure to dispose of unused medication properly"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Summit County residents can take their unused and unwanted prescription or over-the-counter drugs to one of three drop-off locations in Breckenridge, Dillon and Frisco.<\/strong>
Stock image<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Dear Eartha,<\/em><\/p>\n

I went to the 9Health Fair last month and saw a prescription drop-off box. Do I really need to seek these out? Can\u2019t I just flush my old medications?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 Gary, Silverthorne<\/em><\/p>\n

It was a great event, and it just so happened to
\nfall on the same weekend as National Prescription Take Back Day. Twice each
\nyear, the Drug Enforcement Administration hosts a national push to help
\nresidents properly dispose of unused mediations. The good news? Here in Summit
\nCounty, you can drop off unused medications at any time of the year.<\/p>\n

Residents can take their pick of three drug drop-off
\nlocations. Secure collection bins are located at the Summit County Justice
\nCenter in Breckenridge, the Dillon Police Department and Prescription
\nAlternatives in Frisco. Bring your unused, unwanted or expired medications \u2014
\nincluding prescription and over-the-counter drugs \u2014 and drop them off for free.
\nYep, it\u2019s that easy.<\/p>\n

With several convenient drop-off options, I
\nrecommend getting those unused meds out of the house as quickly as possible.
\nAnd to answer your original question: Don\u2019t flush medications, ever. Let\u2019s dig
\na little deeper on why.<\/p>\n

Not good for family<\/strong><\/p>\n

Drugs that sit unused in home medicine cabinets
\nare highly susceptible to misuse and abuse. Easy availability of drugs also can
\nlead to accidental poisoning.<\/p>\n

Here in Colorado, the Consortium for Prescription
\nDrug Abuse Prevention found that 29% of residents have used pain medication
\nprescribed for someone else. And according to the 2017 Healthy Kids Colorado
\nSurvey, 26% of Summit High School students think it\u2019s easy to get prescription
\ndrugs without a prescription. It\u2019s frightening, especially as the opioid
\nepidemic shows no signs of slowing.<\/p>\n

Some folks might be thinking, \u201cWhat about the meds
\nI actually need?\u201d My advice is to be part of the solution. That means talking
\nto your doctor and using your prescription as it\u2019s intended to treat your
\ncondition. Make sure you store medications in a safe, ideally locked, location.
\nKeep them secure and out of sight from children, teens, visitors and pets. And
\nof course, get rid of those unused or expired medications as soon as possible but
\nnever down the drain or toilet.<\/p>\n

Not good for the environment<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you flush medications here in Summit County,
\nthey most likely pass through a wastewater treatment plant or, in some cases, a
\nseptic system. While treatment facilities effectively remove many drugs and
\ncontaminates, they don\u2019t get rid of everything. What\u2019s more, the Environmental
\nProtection Agency doesn\u2019t have testing guidelines for pharmaceuticals in
\ndrinking water.<\/p>\n

This means that flushed drugs end up in drinking
\nwater, fish and other aquatic life. In fact, the U.S. Geological Survey tested more
\nthan 130 streams, and 80% contained detectable amounts of prescription drugs.
\nThere\u2019s little clarity on what small amounts of prescription drugs in drinking
\nwater does to human health. It is affecting aquatic life, however.<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s the problem with a few dosed up fish? A
\nlot, actually. Like humans, fish become more relaxed on antidepressants. And
\nthat means they\u2019re less motivated to escape from predators. Some scientists
\nworry this could cause a decline or crash in certain fish populations and
\ncreate a domino effect for entire freshwater ecosystems.<\/p>\n

Even low concentrations of hormones from flushed
\nbirth control pills can cause genetic imbalances in fish, making it harder for
\nthem to catch food or reproduce. Again, there\u2019s concern of a domino effect on
\nthe larger ecosystem.<\/p>\n

Find a local drop-off box<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019re lucky in Summit County to have several
\noptions for getting rid of old medications the right way. And it\u2019s all thanks
\nto the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the Summit County
\nWater Quality Committee and the Summit County Sheriff\u2019s Office. Make sure to visit highcountryconservation.org<\/a> for a complete list of what\u2019s accepted at local drop-off boxes.<\/p>\n

As you make room this holiday season for visiting
\nfamily, friends and new toys, don\u2019t forget to clear out those old and unused
\nmedications. <\/p>\n

Summit County Justice Center
501 N. Park Ave., Breckenridge
8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays<\/p>\n

Dillon Police Department
275 Lake Dillon Drive, Dillon
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays<\/p>\n

Prescription Alternatives
610 Main St., Frisco
10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays<\/p>\n

Ask Eartha Steward is written by the staff at the High Country Conservation Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to waste reduction and resource conservation. Submit questions to Eartha at info@highcountryconservation.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summit County residents can take their unused and unwanted prescription or over-the-counter drugs to one of three drop-off locations in Breckenridge, Dillon and Frisco.Stock image Dear Eartha, I went to the 9Health Fair last month and saw a prescription drop-off box. Do I really need to seek these out? Can\u2019t I just flush my old […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-801124","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-01 11:44:54","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=801124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801124\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}