If you flush those old prescription drugs, you could end up drinking them. Toss them into the trash or leave them sitting around in your medicine cabinet and they could be swiped by someone looking to get high – perhaps even a son or daughter, visitor or neighbor.

Soon there will be a better option for all those bottles, beginning Aug. 4.

The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office and the San Juan Island Prevention Coalition have collaborated to launch a prescription drug take-back program, beginning in August at Ray’s Pharmacy on Orcas, Friday Harbor Drug and Lopez Pharmacy. Federal laws mandate that controlled substances can only be received by law enforcement.

“Take Back Programs are beginning nationwide to offer a safe place for citizens to dispose of unused, unwanted, or expired medications,” said Marta Nielson, director of the Orcas Island Prevention Partnership. “The problems surrounding the disposal of prescription drugs is two-fold. These chemicals are highly toxic to the environment when flushed or washed down the drain, but if kept at home beyond their prescribed usage time, they can fall into the wrong hands.”

A deputy will arrive at each pharmacy at 10 a.m. on the first Wednesday of every month (for the next five months) to accept controlled medications. After helping any initial clients, the deputy may leave, but will be on call to return to the pharmacies to accept medications until 2 p.m.

The pharmacies said they will also accept over-the-counter medications and supplements.

Prescription drug-related crime

San Juan County sheriff’s logs show a pattern of a few prescription-related crimes every year: home or pharmacy burglaries, vehicle accidents, and prescriptions stolen by visitors, family, neighbors and even a cleaning lady during visits to the home. Overdose victims have required emergency medical response.

This year the San Juan County sheriff has reported responding to a break-in of an Eastsound pharmacy, a pharmaceutical home burglary and a teen who stole medication from his grandmother.

According to Nielson, these reports show only the tip of the iceberg.

Prescription drugs are the second most commonly abused category of drugs, second only to marijuana and used more commonly than cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and other drugs, according to www.prescription-drug-abuse.org

“Every day, 2,500 teenagers use a prescription drug to get high for the first time,” says Partnership for a Drug Free America. Top choices include narcotic painkillers like OxyContin or Vicodin, sedatives and tranquilizers like Xanax or Valium, and stimulants like Dexedrine, Adderall or Ritalin.

Nielson said teens can find directions for mixing prescription cocktails online, and spoke of “pill parties” where revelers pass around bowls of unmarked drugs.

In 2006, more than 26,000 deaths from unintentional drug poisoning occurred in the United States, according to the Center for Disease Control. Opioid pain medications (such as oxycodone and methadone) were involved in more than half of these deaths. In Washington state, 505 people died from painkiller overdoses in 2008. (Washington Department of Health).

Environmental concerns

Studies show that pharmaceuticals are now found at very low levels in surface waters, streams, septic tanks, tap water and wastewater effluent across the nation.

Eastsound Water Users Association general manager Paul Kamin said there has not been any pharmaceutical testing in San Juan County, as it’s “difficult and expensive.”

Kamin said that our pharmaceuticals do eventually end up in the environment.

“If you flush waste to an on-site septic system, there’s no evidence that the field will filter it,” he said. “It will leach and be part of the recharge of the groundwater.”

Pharmaceuticals in surface water have been linked to serious reproductive problems in aquatic life. (Associated Press Investigation: http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/pharmawater_site/day2_01.html) In addition, certain pharmaceuticals can cause bacterial die-offs and failure in on-site septic systems, which serve many islanders’ homes.

The future

Kamin said state legislators are working on creating a universal, statewide prescription drug take-back program funded by the pharmaceutical industry.

The San Juan County program will run for a five month trial before the situation is reassessed.

For more information on the national prescription drug take-back movement, see www.smarxtdisposal.net