Many of us have been in the situation where we get doctors medications and recover and have drugs left over. What do we do with them? Often there are ethical and legal issues on what to do with old drugs.While they may not be old in the sense they are past their use date, they may really be just "unused."

Sometimes it is our parents or grand parents we are taking care of and find medications they no longer need or use. What should you do with those? Sometimes friends or relatives can use common things like allergy medications, but you should check with your doctor if you consider that.

The dangers can run from simple mistakes that the senior takes the wrong medication to kids taking the pills because they are pretty. I remember an incident from my childhood of someone doing that. Get rid of unused medications, needles( sharps) and syringes. It is illegal to dispose your syringes and sharps in the garbage as of September 1, 2008.

Often when I am helping families who have a senior that is moving to a care facility such as Sunshine Villa or Aegis of Aptos, Dominican Oaks, these medications are found when cleaning out the house. Preparing to move, selling their home, and having a big change in life is stressful. Confusion often results, so simplification of things is often best. Get rid of the clutter that is so often present, in all aspects.

Sort out what you need, what are the current medications that are being used, and call the doctor when unsure what they are for. Dispose of the other medication properly. Do not flush them down the toilet as that is why we find all sorts of drugs in our drinking water. The water treatment plants kill pathogens, but don't and can't filter out all these drugs that are mistakenly being flushed down the toilet. The well intentioned action has far reaching consequences that affect all of us as well as marine life.

Local pharmacy's such as Lauden's in Capitola, Horsnyders in the Seabright Santa Cruz area,Watsonville Pharmacy, and the Westside pharmacy on the west side of Santa Cruz are all participating in a drug disposal program with Sharp Solutions . This drug take back program has some limitations, so check it out and take them to these pharmacy's on October 4th, 2008 from 9AM-4PM

About the Author

Gregg Camp is a Seniors Real Estate Specialist( SRES) is Santa Cruz. Real estate is something he has been done for 20 years and helping seniors is a specialty. He is active in the Santa Cruz real estate community and in the senior community. You can find more senior topics and resources at his site www.propertyinsantacruz.com or by calling him at 831-818-7524