Safe Medication Disposal: Do people have the green to be that green?

photo courtesy of Google Images

Last week Walgreens announced their Safe Medication Disposal program for patients who want to dispose of their unused or expired meds safely. For $2.99 patients can purchase an envelope that can be used to ship their unwanted meds to an incinerating facility where medications will be destroyed. By-products are then used for "green" related building materials instead of ending up in a landfill or the ocean.

I get the whole green thing. I get patients wanting to "do the right thing". What I don't get, or rather, what I don't think patients will buy into is having to purchase the envelope to rid their medications in a safe, green way. Patients are already trying to cut corners on their meds. Patients aren't taking their meds because of costs. Do you really think they're going to then pay to make the medications go away when they could just dump them in their trash, or better yet let them sit in their medicine cabinets?

I'd be the first one to advocate for a cleaner earth, specifically for waste not to get dumped into the ocean. (I prefer blue water to the green/brown color that is Lake Michigan). I hate seeing all those documentaries about the damage our waste and harmful medications are having on the wildlife. Nothing brings a tear to my eye faster than watching film on animals trying to remove plastic from their mouths, oil off their feathers, etc. I get it-- we have a very detrimental effect of the livelihood and survival of other species. Dumping our meds in the trash isn't helping. I see crows get into our garbage bags all the time. The last thing I want is a big ass crow picking at some orange vials that smell yummy (mmmm...vanilla scented Biaxin).

Are people literally buying into this program? In a time of national economic stress are people really paying to dispose their medications safely?

Better yet, I have an idea. How about when the patient comes to purchase an envelope, a pharmacist peeks inside to see if it's a long-term med for hypertension/diabetes/hypercholesterolemia/etc. If it is, we counsel the patient on medication adherence, take the envelope back from them but keep the $2.99 for a counseling fee, and send them on their way. They shouldn't be throwing away their meds anyway.