P2D2

Missouri Prescription Pill and Drug Disposal (P2D2)

The Missouri Prescription Pill and Drug Disposal (P2D2) program offers people a safe way to dispose of unused medicines at secure collection boxes in local police stations, protecting public health and the environment. The program is sponsored by Missouri American Water, the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District, the St. Louis County Police Department and St. Louis College of Pharmacy.

The drop boxes are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week at these locations:

St. Louis County Police Department
North County Precinct
11815 Benham Road, St. Louis, MO 63138
314.355.1200

St. Louis County Police Department
Affton Southwest Precinct
9928 Gravois Road, St. Louis, MO 63123
314.638.5550

St. Louis County Police Department
South County Precinct
3031 Telegraph Road, St. Louis, MO 63125
314.892.1510

St. Louis County Police Department
West County Precinct
232 Vance Road, St. Louis, MO 63088
636.225.0425

Four out of five patients leave their doctors’ offices with at least one prescription. As these medications expire or go unused, they accumulate in medicine cabinets, along with unneeded over-the-counter medicines – creating an abundance of unwanted drugs.

The best way to dispose of unused and expired medications is to turn them in to an authorized disposal site.

Frequently Asked Questions:

How do I know what to dispose of?   

Everyone should clean out their medicine cabinet once a year. You should dispose of: expired drugs, including prescription, over-the-counter, and herbal supplements; and prescription medicines you no longer use.

Why should I dispose of my old or unused medicines? 

There are three main reasons:

1. Your safety. If you accidentally take the wrong medicine, you could be poisoned or have harmful side effects. The elderly, children, and pets are particularly susceptible to this.

2. Other's safety. Theft of medicines is becoming more common. This includes theft by persons in your home whom you know, such as a child’s friend. This can lead to inappropriate use or identity theft.

3. The environment. If drugs are flushed down the toilet or poured down the sink, they enter the sewer system. Medicines are not removed from the water by sewage treatment facilities or septic tank systems. The drugs enter the soil, surface water, and ground water. This causes growth and reproductive problems in fish and other aquatic wildlife. DO NOT FLUSH your old medicines or DO NOT POUR your old medicines down the sink!

Environmental Facts:

* Scientists have discovered small amounts of pharmaceuticals, including acetaminophen, steroids, hormones, codeine, antibiotics, antimicrobials, and ibuprofen, in lakes and rivers.

* Sewage treatment plans, septic systems, and drinking water infrastructure are not designed to remove these contaminants.

* Aquatic life is sensitive to exposure to medications found in water. Notably, male fish are being feminized, creating a gender imbalance, intersex conditions, poor egg hatching success, decreased fertility and growth, and altered behavior.

* Medications that get into the ground water negatively impact sentinel species such as earthworms and zooplankton, which serve as foundations for the pyramid of life.

Poison and Abuse Facts:

* Nationally, an estimated 71,000 children under the age of 18 are seen in emergency rooms each year because of medication poisonings. Over 80 percent of these visits occur because unsupervised children have found consumed medications.

* Child resistant packaging is just that-resistant. In fact, children as young as three years old can access "child-proof" caps and packages within 10 minutes. Because some medications look like candy, young children are especially vulnerable.

* Each day, 2,700 teenagers abuse a prescription drug for the first time. Unfortunately, many of those drugs are found in the home.