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Answer:Because of hazards to humans, pets, and the environment, the old guidelines—flushing unwanted medications down the toilet or putting them in the trash—are no longer advised. Children, pets, and indigent people may find medications in the trash and become accidentally poisoned, and putting medications in the trash or down the toilet means they can find their way into water sources and landfills, and pollute them—causing danger to humans, animals, fish, and vegetation.

Why do we discard medications? There are many reasons: For example, the drug may have expired, it may not have worked for the patient, the prescription was changed to a different drug, the patient forgot or refused to take the drug, or the drug caused uncomfortable side effects.

The Federal government released new guidelines for proper medication disposal in early 2007. These guidelines, released jointly by The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), urge Americans to take these steps:

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