In Colorado, the state-funded Medication and Sharps Takeback<\/a> program has collected over 400,000 pounds<\/a> \u2013 roughly 181 metric tons \u2013 of drugs since its inception in 2016. Medications can be dropped off at over 300 state-funded or independent drop-off sites<\/a> across the state. <\/p>\n National take-back events in April and October<\/a> each year are another way to properly dispose of medications. The drugs collected are incinerated and become irretrievable, helping keep the public and environment safe<\/a>.<\/p>\n I am a professor of pharmacy with a focus on older adults and medication safety<\/a>. For over a decade, I have co-chaired the Safe Disposal work group<\/a> for the Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention<\/a>. <\/p>\n Although these national and statewide programs make an important difference, there are still gaps \u2013 especially for Coloradans who live in rural communities. Let\u2019s look at the different options these consumers have:<\/p>\n You\u2019re at home \u2013 what can you do?<\/p>\n The FDA recommends flushing some medications<\/a> down the toilet.<\/p>\n This should be a last resort reserved for dangerous medications, like fentanyl patches, that need to be disposed of quickly to prevent them from accidentally coming into contact<\/a> with other humans or pets. <\/p>\n Putting medications down a sink or toilet<\/a> deposits them directly into wastewater, where they will likely not be filtered out<\/a>.<\/p>\n Depositing medications into household trash also carries risks, like making them accessible to animals and other people. Drugs can leach into soil and ground water<\/a> groundwater at the landfill.<\/p>\n Throwing unused drugs into the trash can contaminate waterways and soil. At-home disposal products are a useful alternative, especially in rural areas where drug take-back programs are not readily accessible.<\/p>\n These products dissolve and degrade, bind up or neutralize medications so they can safely be thrown away. Disposal products come in a variety of different sizes and offer different features, so I worked with staff at University of Colorado Anschutz to test some of the popular brands to see how they worked. <\/p>\n Pill Terminator test<\/p>\n The Pill Terminator<\/a> is a one-time use bottle filled with a powder that turns into a gelatinous substance once medications and water are added. All pills need to be added at the same time. <\/p>\n We attempted adding around 30 pills to the bottle \u2013 much less than the stated 300 medium-sized pills that it could accommodate.<\/p>\n We observed several shortcomings. When warm water was used and the bottle was shaken, the powder was fully converted to gelatin and dissolved most of the pills. But there were still some intact pills remaining. When cold water was used, even extensive shaking did not completely dissolve the powder at the bottom of the container. Intact capsules also remained trapped within the gelatin, meaning some medications could still be identified and potentially retrieved. <\/p>\n Deterra Drug Deactivation System test<\/p>\n The Deterra Drug Deactivation System<\/a> is a biodegradable pouch that uses activated charcoal to adsorb medications after warm water is added. <\/p>\n According to the manufacturer, the system is designed to deactivate organic medications<\/a> including opioids, most illicit drugs and vape fluid in different forms like pills, liquid and patches. <\/p>\n Deterra cannot adsorb biologic drugs, such as vaccines and injectable immunotherapies, nor can it adsorb inorganic medications, like iron, calcium, aluminum, magnesium and lithium. Leaf marijuana is also excluded. <\/p>\n Although the product label says to \u201cgently shake,\u201d we needed to shake the Deterra pouch more vigorously to effectively break down the medication. Most medications began to degrade relatively quickly, and the majority of pills were broken down by the water-charcoal mixture. Like with the Pill Terminator, the instruction to use warm water significantly improved the product\u2019s performance compared with cold water. <\/p>\n Despite these favorable results, we observed some limitations: After several hours, extended-release capsule beads were still visible within the charcoal water, standard capsules were only partially degraded, and some sustained-release tablets remained intact. <\/p>\n The manufacturer states that the average time to deactivate 89%<\/a> of the medication is eight hours; two days for 96%; and two weeks for 99%-100%. The pouch is not designed to be reopened, so after our initial testing, we were unable to verify these claims.<\/p>\n NarcX+ test<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/file-20260903-50-bmlh33.jpg\")
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