Tag Archive for: prescriptions and medications

When you are organizing your medicine cabinet you will probably come across expired prescriptions & medicines.  Please do not throw them in the garbage, flush them down the toilet or wash them down the sink!  There is a local program that provides an environmentally safe alternative to disposing of both prescription and non-prescription medications in landfills and sewer systems.

The Wentzville, Missouri Police Department provides a safe and proper way to dispose of your unwanted medications.  They offer a Drug Collection and Disposal DropBox, which is a secured, steel mailbox/collection box, that is located in the lobby at the Law Enforcement Center, 1019 Schroeder Creek Boulevard, Wentzville, MO  63385.  Citizens are able to deposit their medications anonymously any time of the day or night, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Once collected, the drugs will be properly disposed of by incineration.  People are encouraged to black out their personal information on the prescription bottles, but not the contents of the bottle itself.

Acceptable items include:

  •  Expired or unwanted prescription medications
  •  Expired or unwanted over the counter medications
  • Vitamins and nutritional supplements
  • Medications for household pets
  • Homeopathic remedies
  • EpiPens
  • Medicated lotions
  • Sealed liquids

Unacceptable items include:

  •  Unsealed liquids
  • Hydrogen peroxide
  • Empty medicine bottles
  • Medical waste (iv bags, bloody/infected waste)
  • Needles or other “sharps”
  •  Hazardous waste
  • Thermometers
  • Personal care products (shampoos, soaps, makeup, etc.)
  • Trash
  • Mail
  • Lost/found materials
  • Business/professional waste

For more information please contact the Wentzville Police Department at 636-639-2150.  For those of you who are located outside of the Wentzville, MO area, I strongly urge you to check with your local law enforcement agency or city/county government offices to see if your area offers a similar “drop box” program.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has scheduled another National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on Saturday, April 28, 2012.  They will be announcing collection sites sometime in March.  I will post this information when it is released.