Most people have no idea what to do with their old drugs. Unused or expired（到期的） medicines lying around at home can get into the wrong hands, leading to accidental poisoning or drug overdose. When drugs are flushed or sent to landfill, the medicines can pollute our groundwater, rivers, and streams, threatening human and sea life.
In an effort to find a solution for drugs kept in medicine boxes or waterways, the U. S. Drug Enforcement Administration launched its first National Take-Back Day in September 2010. In the drug take-back program, the returned drugs are sent to medical waste incinerators (焚烧炉). However, the process of transporting and burning such waste can release green-house gas emissions that could be potentially greater than those generated if the drugs were poured into landfills.
"But take-back programs are preferred as they reduce the risk of drug misuse and the incineration effectively eliminates the entrance of these medicines into our nation's waters," says Tim Carroll, a spokesperson for the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Perhaps surprisingly, not all unused medicines need to be thrown away. Every year five billion dollars' worth of unexpired medicines end up being deserted in the U. S." We're wasting a lot of medicines which are already paid for," says Anandi Law, a patient engagement specialist . "Millions of U. S. adults skip or delay getting their prescriptions filled due to high costs. We could give them to somebody else who needs it. "
Now, at least 40 states have passed legislation establishing drug donation programs that allow drug manufacturers, medical and long-term care facilities, and sometimes individuals to donate their unused drugs. For example,since its start in 2007, lowa's program, SafeNetRx, has served more than 117,000 patients and redistributed nearly 54-million-dollar worth of medicines and supplies. Georgia's program formally launched in 2018, and it has already filled prescriptions worth over 50 million dollars.
"All of these efforts are still relatively new," Carroll says. "We still have a long way to go until households change their habits."
