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National Prescription Drug Take Back Day Is Saturday

MINEOLA, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - This is the weekend to properly dispose of those old, unused and expired medications without putting your drinking water at risk.

Ordinary people, along with hospitals and health care facilities, need to stop flushing expired medications down the toilet, according to the Adrienne Esposito of the Long Island-based Citizens Campaign for the Environment.

"Trace amounts of pharmaceutical drugs are already showing up in the water supply. Antibiotics, antidepressants, anticonvulsants. That's just not what we want," she told WCBS 880 Long Island Bureau Chief Mike Xirinachs.

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day Is Saturday

Esposito, other environmental activists, and elected officials are encouraging everyone to take advantage of the free National Prescription Drug Take Back Day this Saturday.

You can take expired medications to designated drop sites so that they can be properly incinerated.

LINK: Find A Site Near You (via DEA)

"Our goal is to make sure this doesn't get to be a public health problem," she said. "You want your drugs to be prescribed by a doctor for a particular ailment, not showing up in your morning coffee."
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