As he emptied a large bag full of old medication Tuesday, Seth Levine, manager of the University Common Computing, was relieved to find a place to properly dispose of prescription medications belonging to his deceased mother.
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, an effort led by the Drug Enforcement Administration and local law enforcement agencies, provides a safe location to anonymously dispose of old prescription medications.
Although National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is Oct. 29, ASU Wellness and University police already hosted their own version, Medicine Take Back, on the Tempe campus at the farmers market.
It gave the ASU community a safe location to anonymously dispose of old prescription medications.
“I don’t think many people know that if you are in possession of your own expired medication, depending on what it is, you can be arrested for that,” ASU Police officer Brian Kiefling said.
Kiefling said sometimes students trade their old medications with their peers, and events like Take Back Day can prevent this from happening.
Another objective is to create a way for people to properly dispose of their prescription medication so it does not affect the environment.
Karen Moses, director of ASU Wellness, said dropping off outdated medication at Medicine and National Prescription Drug Take Back days is the best way for someone to dispose of their old drugs.
“It’s a great opportunity because a lot of people are already going to the farmers market,” Moses said. “If they didn’t know about it already, we’ll have the information for them about where they can go.”
Moses said there isn’t a similar event for drop-off locations between days.
Rebecca Reining, coordinator at Residential Life, has learned about how prescription drugs can negatively affect the environment. She said it was good that the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day was happening and plans to drop off her old medication in her local area on Oct. 29 as well.
“I know that it’s not a good idea to just throw them away because they can just get into the wrong hands and when you flush them it can get in the water system,” Reining said. “So I’ve been waiting for a few years now to dispose of them.”
ASU Police has the ability to dispose of prescription medication without doing any harm to the environment.
“All the drugs end up being impounded and get burned at some off-site location,” Kiefling said.
Kiefling did not suggest students should drop off their old medication at the police department if they miss the opportunity on Oct. 29 for the official National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, but expired medicine is accepted at the police department for proper disposal.
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