This Saturday is National Take Back Day where people can anonymously drop off their unused or expired medication at different sites on Oʻahu, Maui, and Kauaʻi.
Hawaiʻi does not allow syringes or needles at the drop offs, which has led health officials to encourage residents to learn how to safely dispose of their sharp objects themselves.
Irina Butler, the executive director of the Pharmaceutical Product Stewardship Work Group, acknowledged that keeping track of medication is already a hassle, and she does not expect users to remember how to dispose of every type.
However, she hopes people turn to existing education resources rather than resorting to throwing medication away in household trash.
“We don’t expect people to remember every last detail, but knowing the key points of which medicine goes into what, and how to safely dispose of it, is really important,” Butler said.
“Ensuring that prior to disposal, your medicine is de-identified, so make sure you scratch off your name, address and phone number, make sure you know how to dispose of that medicine — whether it's at an unwanted medicine kiosk, whether it’s a sharps location that may be available near you, maybe it’s disposal packets in the home,” she said.
Butler also noted that people should be extra cautious with medical syringes and needles, as they can puncture through trash bags and hurt others, including city workers or even children.
If residents do not have an FDA-approved container for their sharp items, any heavy-duty plastic container that is leak-resistant and has a tight fitting lid can often be a good replacement.
Butler’s organization created a website that shows how to safely throw out all types of unused medication and sharp medical objects. It also just launched state-specific pages that show acceptable disposal methods for where you live.
“Since the take back days only happen twice a year, a lot of people may miss these events, and so this website has information that is available to everyone in all 50 states, year round,” Butler said. “So if you have unwanted or unused medicines in your medicine cabinets throughout the year, you can still find a kiosk location site near you that you could dispose of your medicines at any time.”
National Take Back day is this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. More information about dropoff sites can be found here.
