Unused drugs clutter medicine chests, sometimes leading to confusion and accidental overdoses. They can also be a target for thieves looking for prescription drugs and when thrown or flushed away, they end up in streams and lakes. A University of Maine pilot disposal program will help address these problems.

As important as finding better ways to dispose of unused medicine is finding out why so many drugs go unused. The UMaine project includes a sampling of the types and quantities of drugs collected. This information can help doctors and pharmacists reduce the amount of medication that goes unused. In addition to reducing the disposal problem, this could save consumers money.

In 2004, the Maine Legislature passed a bill creating an unused pharmaceuticals disposal program. The program could accept private funds, but no state money was set aside. This spring, the university’s Center on Aging received a $150,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for a prescription drug mail-back pilot program. Pre-paid mailers will be made available to the public through pharmacies and medical clinics. Unused drugs will be put into the mailers, which will go to the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency where pharmacists will open some to see what types of drugs are being discarded. The drugs will be sent to a hazardous waste incinerator.

Now, unused drugs are typically flushed down the toilet or thrown in the trash.

The U.S. Geological Survey sampled water from 139 streams in 30 states (not including Maine) in 1999 and 2000. The waterways were chosen because they were downstream from urban and/or agriculture areas. Eighty percent of the samples contained one or more contaminants such as drugs, insecticides and fire retardants. Half the streams contained seven or more of these chemicals and about a third contained 10 or more. The concentrations were very low.

As for drugs, acetaminophen was found in nearly a quarter of the samples, synthetic hormones or steroids were in 16 percent, blood pressure medication in 13 percent and antibiotics in 10 percent.

Patient compliance with prescriptions averages about 50 percent. People stop taking medications because they didn’t like the drug’s side effects or it didn’t work, the prescription was changed, the patient died or they heard the drug was dangerous.

A recent drug collection effort in Bath, coordinated by Mid Coast Hospital, gathered 420 pounds of medications in 4 hours. More than 5,000 pills of controlled substances, such as Oxycontin, Percocet and Vicodin were also collected. Such pills can have a street value of up to $5 each, making them sought after by drug addicts and thieves.

Gaining a clearer understanding of why people stop using drugs and what types most often go unused can ease the disposal problem. Based on this information, physicians could prescribe smaller amounts or switch to drugs patients are more likely to take.

Getting unused drugs out of homes, or ensuring they don’t end up there in the first place, will improve patient safety and the environment.