Safe Storage and Disposal

Protecting your family and your community is the number one reason to safely store and dispose of your medications.

	Every 10 minutes a child visits the emergency room for medication poisoning.1
	Three in five teens say prescription medication is easy to get from their parents’ medicine cabinet.
	9.2 million people ages 12 and older have misused opioids in the past year.2
	Among people aged 12 or older who misused pain relievers in the past year, half of them indicated that they obtained the pain relievers they misused from a friend or relative.3
	3 of 4 people who use heroin started with prescription opioids.4

Store opioids out of sight and reach of children, teenagers, and pets

• Lock up medications if possible.
• Try a medication lock box, safe, or drawer with a lock! 
• Store opioids in private areas, do not store in common rooms like the bathroom or kitchen.
• Do not store medications in a purse. 
• Keep count of how much medication is left.
• Talk about the risks of opioids with family and friends.

Traveling with medications 

• Keep medications in their original containers. Medications should be labeled with dosing information and instructions. 
• Keep medications out of reach of children. This can be done by using a lockable suitcase or by storing medications in lockable containers. 
• Bring a list of your medications. This helps you keep track of the medications you have with you.
• Consider bringing a medication deactivation pouch with you in case medications need to be disposed of during your travels.

Locking Pill Bottles

Locking pill bottles are designed to provide an added layer of security for medications. They can be particularly useful for several reasons, including:

Preventing accidental poisoning: Keeping medications in a locking bottle can prevent children, teens or pets from accidentally ingesting pills that could be toxic or deadly.

Reducing risk for misuse and diversion: Controlled substances or other medications with a higher potential for misuse, such as prescription painkillers or psychoactive medications, can be secured and deter unauthorized access.

Maintaining medication integrity: Locking containers can help protect medications from environmental factors, such as moisture or sunlight, which could potentially degrade their effectiveness.

Ensuring correct dosage: For individuals who may be confused about their medication regimen, a locked bottle with a timer or some other form of control can prevent double-dosing or skipping doses.

Maintaining privacy: Some individuals may want to keep their medications private, either due to the stigma associated with certain treatments or for personal reasons. A locking bottle can provide that privacy.

Protecting vulnerable individuals: In homes with individuals who may be at risk of self-harm or have cognitive impairments, securing medication is a vital safety measure.

Compliance with regulations: In some areas, there may be legal requirements or guidelines that stipulate how controlled substances must be stored. A locking pill bottle can help ensure compliance with these regulations.

Travel safety: When traveling, a locking pill bottle can protect medications from being lost or stolen, and ensure that you have access to your medication when you need it.

Psychological deterrent: An additional step required to unlocking pill bottles, could provide vital time needed to reconsider and deter an individual from taking a medication on impulse.

It’s important to remember that while locking pill bottles can provide a level of security, they are not foolproof and should be used as part of a broader strategy of medication safety and management.

There are several known risks of opioid use, including side effects, accidental medication poisoning, intentional medication misuse, development of opioid use disorder, and opioid overdose. Safe medication disposal can help prevent harm from opioid exposure. When you get a prescription, consider having a conversation with your provider about safe storage and disposal options. 

There are four main options for medication disposal:

1. Medication deactivation bags,
2. Mail-back envelopes,
3. Permanent disposal locations, and
4. Medication take back events.

If you have any medications – including opioids – that are no longer needed, these should be safely disposed of as soon as possible. The best options are to use the at-home disposal options of a deactivation bag or a mail-back envelope, or to bring the medications to a permanent disposal location in your community. If these supplies are not available to you, the next best option is returning medications at an upcoming local take back event. If none of these options are accessible, you can mix medications with coffee grounds or cat litter and dispose of them in the garbage; note that this does not deactivate the medications. If absolutely necessary, medications can be flushed down the toilet; this method has environmental concerns and does not deactivate the medications, but it can be considered as a last resort to keep you and your family safe from opioid exposure.

OPEN can help with safely disposing medications through our current disposal programs.

Talk with your pharmacist about home disposal options such as medication deactivation bags and mail back envelopes.

Last resort

• Mix opioids (do not crush) with used coffee grounds or kitty litter in a plastic bag and throw in household trash. 
• Scratch out personal information on prescription labels and dispose of original medicine containers.
• Flush medications down the toilet (only if absolutely necessary). This method has environmental concerns and does not deactivate the medications, but it can be considered as a last resort to keep you and your family safe from opioid exposure.

Pharmacies, police stations, and hospitals are sites that commonly accept unneeded medications. Use the Household Drug Take Back Map or search “medication disposal near me” in an internet browser to locate permanent disposal locations in your community. 

Find a permanent disposal site near you:

• Michigan Household Drug Take Back Map
• U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
• Controlled Substance Public Disposal Locations: Search Utility 
• National Association of Boards of Pharmacy: Drug Disposal
• Meijer drug take back kiosk at over 200 pharmacies
• CVS Pharmacy medication disposal locations
• Disposal and recycling sites across Michigan

EpiPens, sharps, and inhalers require additional disposal precautions and are not always accepted at disposal sites.
We recommend calling your local disposal site to confirm their hours and the items they accept for disposal.

OPEN supports biannual medication take back events in the spring and fall. Through partnerships with law enforcement and community health organizations, we are able to support Take Back Events across the state of Michigan. Typically the event day matches National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.

Interested in participating? 

Sign up for the Take Back Event program or subscribe to the OPEN newsletter for more information. About two months before the event, OPEN will create specific event pages with information for hosting. OPEN can support ordering disposal boxes for your event and provide planning resources, including our Medication Take Back Event Guide.

View previous events!

Check out these events: Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022! 

Medications are often administered using medical devices or used alongside medical supplies. Needles might be used to inject medications or draw medications from bottles, syringes could be used to give oral or intranasal medications, or patches could be used to give medications through the skin. Some medications come in different forms, like breathing medications that come in inhalers or children’s medications that come as liquids. These medications might need to be disposed of differently than pills, capsules, or tablets. Continue reading below to find out more about how to safely dispose of different kinds of medications and supplies.

1. Adler, A.C., Yamani, A.N., Sutton, C.D., Guffey, D.M., & Chandrakantan, A. (2020). Mail-back envelopes for retrieval of opioids after pediatric surgery. Pediatrics, 145(3). https://dx.doi.org/10.1542/peds.2019-2449 
2. Brummett, C.M., Steiger, R., Englesbe, M., Khalsa, C., DeBlanc, J.J., Denton, L.R., & Waljee, J. (2019). Effect of an activated charcoal bag on disposal of unused opioids after an outpatient surgical procedure: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Surgery, 154(6), 558-61. https://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamasurg.2019.0155 
3. Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. (2022). Results from the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Detailed tables. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2021-nsduh-detailed-tables 
4. NIDA. 2015, October 1. Prescription opioid use is a risk factor for heroin use. Retrieved from https://nida.nih.gov/publications/research-reports/prescription-opioids-heroin/prescription-opioid-use-risk-factor-heroin-use on 2023, January 18
5. Safe Kids Worldwide. (2019). Medicine Safety Study – Safe Kids Worldwide. MEDICINE SAFETY: A KEY PART OF CHILD-PROOFING YOUR HOME. Retrieved January 18, 2023, from https://www.safekids.org/sites/default/files/medicine_safety_study_2019-final.pdf 
6. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2021). Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (HHS Publication No. PEP21-07-01-003, NSDUH Series H-56). Rockville, MD: Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Retrieved from https://www.samhsa.gov/data/
7. Upp, L.A., & Waljee, J.F. (2020). The opioid epidemic. Clinics in Plastic Surgery, 47(2), 181-90. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cps.2019.12.005