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<title>RE: [Pharmwaste] Mix Leftover Meds with Kitty Litter?</title>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Fred,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>What a classic and interesting reply!
Who is running our government that keeps coming up with these creative ideas?
Thanks for your input. I’m trained in public health and have had courses
in behavior and addictions. I am never surprised by what a desperate addict
would do to get his next “high” or “fix”. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Matthew Mireles<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Community Medical Foundation for Patient
Safety<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>
pharmwaste-bounces@lists.dep.state.fl.us
[mailto:pharmwaste-bounces@lists.dep.state.fl.us] <b><span style='font-weight:
bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>Miller, Fred L.<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Wednesday, November 07, 2007
12:51 AM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> matthew mireles; Freeman,
Kelly; pharmwaste@lists.dep.state.fl.us<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Cc:</span></b> Elizabeth Smith; <st1:PersonName
w:st="on">Cheenu Srinivasan</st1:PersonName><br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> RE: [Pharmwaste] Mix
Leftover Meds with Kitty Litter?</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>This is some of the funniest advice I've seen
lately. If you want your drugs back from cat litter (used or not), it's a
simple process involving commonly available solvents, acids, bases and
paint/coffee filters. It's less risky and less complicated than cooking
meth so it's within the grasp of addicts.<br>
<br>
It is also a well known method to drug traffickers. As a former forensic
drug chemist I can tell you there are a lot matrices to mix drugs with if you
want them rendered "beyond recovery." I used to spend my days
recovering drugs from various media and cat litter is about as tough to get
drugs out of as tablets and the recovery rate is nearly identical.<br>
<br>
Fred<br>
<br>
-----Original Message-----<br>
From: pharmwaste-bounces@lists.dep.state.fl.us on behalf of matthew mireles<br>
Sent: Tue 11/6/2007 9:17 AM<br>
To: 'Freeman, Kelly'; pharmwaste@lists.dep.state.fl.us<br>
Cc: 'Elizabeth Smith'; '<st1:PersonName w:st="on">Cheenu Srinivasan</st1:PersonName>'<br>
Subject: RE: [Pharmwaste] Mix Leftover Meds with Kitty Litter?<br>
<br>
We are involved with this project and the EPA-funded pilot study in <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Maine</st1:place></st1:State>.<br>
About 3 years ago, we started set up the national Unused and Expired<br>
Medicines Registry to collect data on unwanted meds. The Registry is very<br>
rich with good info about type of drugs (prescript and OTC), quantity of<br>
returned drugs, cost, reason why people don't want them, and some<br>
environmental classification based on the JANUS pbt index (<st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sweden</st1:place></st1:country-region>).
We now<br>
are receiving data from both coasts of the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region>. <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
The Registry is the center of direct mail-back study in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Maine</st1:place></st1:State> to help<br>
evaluate the program and provide analyses of the collection. The Registry<br>
is also part of our community campaign Get Rid of Unused Pharmaceuticals<br>
(GROUP). For more info about the <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Maine</st1:place></st1:State>
study, go to www.noemaine.org<br>
<<a href="http://www.noemaine.org/">http://www.noemaine.org/</a>> . <br>
<br>
If you want more info about the Registry or how to participate in this<br>
program, visit www.comofcom.com <<a href="http://www.comofcom.com/">http://www.comofcom.com/</a>>
. We are based<br>
in the <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Houston</st1:place></st1:City>
area.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Matthew C. Mireles, PhD, MPH<br>
<br>
President and CEO<br>
<br>
Community Medical Foundation for Patient Safety<br>
<br>
832-778-7777<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
_____ <br>
<br>
From: pharmwaste-bounces@lists.dep.state.fl.us<br>
[<a href="mailto:pharmwaste-bounces@lists.dep.state.fl.us">mailto:pharmwaste-bounces@lists.dep.state.fl.us</a>]
On Behalf Of Freeman,<br>
Kelly<br>
Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2007 8:30 AM<br>
To: pharmwaste@lists.dep.state.fl.us<br>
Subject: [Pharmwaste] Mix Leftover Meds with Kitty Litter?<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
I just ran across this article and thought I'd pass it along. Beware the<br>
ick factor.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Original can be found at <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21641396/">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21641396/</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Thanks,<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Kelly Freeman<br>
<br>
Solid Waste Program Coordinator<br>
<br>
Capital Area Council of Governments<br>
<br>
512-916-6040 Phone<br>
<br>
512-916-6001 Fax<br>
<br>
kfreeman@capcog.org<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Don't flush leftover meds - mix with kitty litter<br>
<br>
<br>
Experts say icky disposal method safer for kids and environment<br>
<br>
<br>
<st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">WASHINGTON</st1:place></st1:State> -
It's time to pooper-scoop your leftover medicine.<br>
<br>
Mixing <<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21641396/##">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21641396/##</a>>
cough syrup, Vicodin or<br>
Lipitor with cat litter is the new advice on getting rid of unused<br>
medications. Preferably used cat litter.<br>
<br>
It's a compromise, better for the environment than flushing - and one that<br>
renders dangerous medicines too yucky to try if children, pets or drug<br>
abusers stumble through the trash.<br>
<br>
A government experiment is about to send that advice straight to thousands<br>
of patients who use potent painkillers, sleeping pills and other controlled<br>
substances.<br>
<br>
Why? Prescription drug abuse is on the rise, and research suggests more than<br>
half of people who misuse those drugs get them for free from a friend or<br>
relative. In other words, having leftovers in the medicine cabinet is a<br>
risky idea. Anyone visiting your house could swipe them.<br>
<br>
So 6,300 pharmacies around the country have signed up for a pilot project<br>
with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. When<br>
patients fill prescriptions for a list of abuse-prone medicines, from Ambien<br>
to Vicodin, the pharmacist also will hand over a flyer urging them to take<br>
the cat-litter step if they don't wind up using all their pills.<br>
<br>
Not a cat owner? Old coffee grounds work, or doggie doo, even sawdust. Just<br>
seal the meds and the, er, goop in a plastic bag before tossing in the<br>
trash.<br>
<br>
"We don't want to assert that this is a panacea for the larger
problem,"<br>
says SAMHSA's Dr. H. Westley Clark. "It just provides them with a caveat<br>
that these are not things you can just lay around."<br>
<br>
But the concern isn't only about controlled substances. How to best dispose<br>
of any medicine, whether prescription or over-the-counter, is a growing<br>
issue.<br>
<br>
Unfortunately, "we don't have a silver bullet," says Joe Starinchak
of the<br>
<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region>
Fish and Wildlife Service.<br>
<br>
No one knows just how many unused drugs Americans dump each year, or how<br>
many are hoarded because patients simply don't know what to do with them or<br>
that they should dispose of them.<br>
<br>
No more flushing<br>
Once, patients were told to flush old drugs down the toilet. No more - do<br>
not flush unless you have one of the few prescriptions that the Food and<br>
Drug Administration specifically labels for flushing.<br>
<br>
That's because antibiotics, hormones and other drugs are being found in<br>
waterways, raising worrisome questions about potential health and<br>
environmental effects. Already, studies have linked hormone exposure to fish<br>
abnormalities. Germs exposed to antibiotics in the environment may become<br>
more drug-resistant.<br>
<br>
Some communities set aside "take-back" days to return leftover doses
to<br>
pharmacies or other collection sites for hazardous-waste incineration. The<br>
<<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21641396/##">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21641396/##</a>>
Environmental Protection Agency<br>
recently funded a novel pilot program by the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Maine</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>
to see if<br>
consumers will mail back unused drugs - a program that local officials<br>
estimate could cull up to 1.5 tons of medications.<br>
<br>
But it's not clear if incineration is better for the environment than the<br>
slow seepage from a landfill, cautions the Fish and Wildlife Service's<br>
Starinchak.<br>
<br>
Plus, take-back programs require legal oversight to make sure what's<br>
collected isn't then diverted for illegal use.<br>
<br>
Starinchak calls the yucky-bag disposal method interim advice - the top<br>
recommendation until more research can determine the best way to balance the<br>
human health, environmental and legal issues.<br>
<br>
So early next year, Fish and Wildlife will team with the American<br>
Pharmacists Association for a larger campaign called SMARxT Disposal. The<br>
campaign will spread this latest advice through even more drugstores, to<br>
purchasers of all types of medicine.<br>
<br>
"There is a $64,000 question here: Whether people really will get rid of<br>
it," says Carol J. Boyd, director of the<br>
<<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21641396/##">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21641396/##</a>>
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Michigan</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>'s Institute<br>
for Research on Women and Gender and a well-known specialist on drug<br>
diversion.<br>
<br>
Say you're prescribed a week's worth of Vicodin for pain after a car crash,<br>
and you use only three days' worth. Most people would keep the rest, to<br>
avoid paying for more if they suffer serious pain for some other reason<br>
later. Boyd isn't sure how to counter that money issue.<br>
<br>
But keeping the leftovers makes them accessible for misuse by children,<br>
other relatives or visitors. Stealing aside, Boyd's research uncovered that<br>
friends and family openly share these pills - "Use this, it helped
me" -<br>
even with teens and college students, apparently not realizing there could<br>
be serious health consequences.<br>
<br>
"The public needs to know this," Boyd says of the disposal advice.
"What's<br>
not easy is, we don't know if it's working."<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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