[Pharmwaste] Corrections

[Ed Gottlieb]

Hi Ed,

Thanks for your continuing coverage of the take back issue in your Pharmalot column!
[https://www.statnews.com/pharmalot/2016/06/16/take-back-programs-drug-abuse/<https://www.statnews.com/pharmalot/2016/06/16/take-back-programs-drug-abuse/>]

FYI, the Supreme Court did not uphold the Alameda ordinance.  The Court refused to hear the case, letting the Federal 9th Circuit Court decision, upholding the ordinance, stand.

Also, please note that many other government agencies recommend trash disposal only as a last resort including the:  DEA, EPA, and White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

Finally, PhRMA's claim that trash disposal is “the safest, most convenient, affordable and eco-friendly method”  is patently false.  Please don't let this claim go unchallenged!
Trash disposal isn't safe.  However masked, drugs in the trash can still cause accidental overdoses (especially of children and pets), can still be illegally diverted (cat litter or coffee grounds won't stop an addict!), and will end up in landfill leachate.
Trash disposal isn't eco-friendly.  If a land fill liner is compromised, the pharmaceuticals in leachate will contaminate ground water.  Most leachate is sent to wastewater treatment facilities (which remove only a tiny amount of the pharmaceutical contaminants) leaving the bulk to contaminate receiving waters.
Trash disposal isn't convenient.  Many American homes, including my own, don't have a supply of used kitty litter, coffee grounds, or sawdust.
Trash disposal isn't more affordable, except for the manufactures.  The high cost of overdoses, opioid addiction, and environmental contamination are all born by society at large. The cost of environmental contamination is the least understood.  It is clear that trace pharmaceuticals negatively effect many creatures and disrupt ecosystems.  It is possible that they will be linked to some chronic health problems in humans.  Advanced wastewater treatment technologies better able to remove these contaminates are extremely expensive.  Take back programs are a very low cost way to reduce all of these serious, expensive, problems.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Best regards,

Ed Gottlieb
Chair, Coalition for Safe Medication Disposal
Industrial Pretreatment Coordinator
Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Facility
525 3rd Street
Ithaca, NY  14850
(607) 273-8381
fax: (607) 273-8433
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