Facts About Medication Disposal
- Unused medications improperly disposed of can harm you and your environment.
- Drugs can be scavenged and illegally sold.
- Children and animals could be poisoned if they find and swallow drugs.
- When drugs are flushed, they are not removed by the sewage treatment facilities and septic tank systems and can enter the soil, surface and ground water.
- Research studies have shown that exposure to drugs found in waterways is having a serious, negative impact on fish and other aquatic life.
- Pollution prevention – the elimination or minimization of the pollution source – is preferable to cleaning up the environment.
Perscription Drug Facts - 2008
- As of 2003, the death rate due to Prescription Narcotics poisoning surpassed that from motor vehicle crashes.
- In Utah, prescribable narcotics such as methadone and oxycodone now contribute to more deaths each year than illicit drugs such as heroin.
- In 1999, approximately 50 people died due to prescription narcotics to over 300 in 2006.
- Per the 2007 SHARP survey, in Utah, 9.5% of all 12th graders have abused prescription narcotic drugs in their lifetime and 3.4% have abused them in the past 30 days.
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