Opinion: How to safely clean out your medicine cabinet | Opinion

Twice a year, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) holds a National Prescription Drug Takeback Day, encouraging people to safely rid their households of expired and unneeded medications. The next drop-off date, April 30, will provide many locations where people can drop off medications for safe disposal. Drop-off locations can be found on the DEA website for National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.

While these events are important, it is equally important to think about safe disposal of these medications throughout the year. Properly disposing of medications can prevent medication misuse and limits unauthorized access to opioids.

According to the Michigan-Opioid Prescribing Engagement Network, every 10 minutes a child visits the emergency room for medication poisoning, and three in five teens say prescription pain medication is easy to get from their parents’ medicine cabinet.

Medication to dispose of

Both over the counter and prescription medications can be dangerous when misused. When deciding which medications to dispose of, look for expired medication, unused or leftover prescription medication and topical medications like prescription creams and patches.

Safety tips

Though many people may think simply flushing medications or throwing prescriptions in the trash is an effective method of…