Do Deterra MP pouches work

June 16, 2024 7:13 AM

We need to dispose of tens of opioid painkillers but the pharmacy dropoffs are always full. Do Deterra MP pouches work? Are they better than just mixing the pills with coffee grounds and burying them in the trash?
posted by donpardo to Health & Fitness (5 answers total)

I seem to recall seeing "mail in" pouches to dispose of medicine if the local bins are full, at least in San Francisco. I just googled it and it's a part of SF Government initiative. Maybe look into whether your local government offers a similar program? I just googled "mail in medication disposal".

According to their website, Deterra pouches contains "proprietary activated carbon" that should permanently deactivate medicine because you have to fill it up halfway with water, seal, and mix, which makes it supposedly inert and can be dumped with the rest of the trash. Sounds interesting, can't vouch for it.
posted by kschang at 8:07 AM on June 16

Best answer: Is your trash picked up by a commercial hauler and loaded into a compacting garbage truck? If so, then I think the coffee grounds approach would be sufficient, especially the grounds are then dumped into the middle of a garbage bag filled with other stuff. If your trash is regularly disturbed by animals or people you might want to do something more secure. But if this is a one-time disposal and you don't have raccoons or people eating your coffee grounds, I think that approach would be fine.

Thank you for taking this disposal seriously. It's frustrating that the pharmacy drop-offs are full.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 9:47 AM on June 16 [1 favorite]

Best answer: If you haven’t yet, you might want to check at local police, court or sheriff buildings.
I’ve found a local police department with a drop off bin that wasn’t full — four out of five times.
posted by calgirl at 9:55 AM on June 16 [4 favorites]

Try Stericycle.
posted by Lulu's Pink Converse at 8:54 PM on June 16

Best answer: Are they one of the opioids listed on the FDA's flush list?
posted by Redmond Cooper at 12:03 AM on June 17 [1 favorite]