How do you dispose of old medications?

The FDA ranks the options, and the medicine cabinet cleanout is overdue for most of us. Best option: a drug take-back location - pharmacies and police stations host drop boxes - or a prepaid drug mail-back envelope; the DEA's website locates take-back sites by zip code. The exception that jumps the queue: medicines on the FDA's Flush List - opioids and a few others so dangerous that one accidental dose can kill a child or pet - get flushed immediately if take-back is not available; do not flush anything NOT on that list. The trash method, for everything else when take-back is not available: mix the medicines (do not crush) with something unappealing - dirt, cat litter, used coffee grounds - seal the mixture in a plastic bag, and put it in the household trash; then scratch your personal information off the empty prescription label before recycling the bottle. Why the ceremony: a stocked cabinet of leftovers is how teenagers experiment, how toddlers get poisoned, how pets die, and how the wrong pill gets taken in the dark at 3 AM. One boundary: needles and sharps never go loose in trash - a sharps container (or a heavy plastic laundry bottle, rules vary locally) is the route. Pymander is a free AI doctor, 24/7 by text, that can help you figure out what to do with a specific leftover.