In the absence of an adequate federal disposal alternative, communities and organizations have been improvising as best they can. The only county that has managed to find a solution is San Mateo, sparked by County Supervisor Adrienne Tessier. People can drop off any kind of prescription drug in bins set up at 13 police substations. “We’re the only program in California that can legally accept controlled medications,” said Tissier’s aide Bill Chiang. “The program started with the sheriff’s office. Law enforcement is critical in making this program work. Participating departments deserve the bulk of the credit.”

The cost is low, Chiang said: “For less than $2 a pound (which includes pickup and disposal), this county is diverting tons of medications from the household waste stream. From September 2006 through the end of July 2008, we’ve exceeded 8,400 pounds.” Yet after two years, this is the only such program in the state. Why? Chiang believes that “the controlled substances aspect makes people nervous.” In addition, many police departments are too short-staffed and busy to take on one more task.

As with many national problems, the solutions sometimes grow from the ground up. In San Jose, pharmacist Robin Shalinsky became interested in drug disposal after working with Hospice of the Valley. The hospice asked her what to do with medications after a patient died. She tried to find out and learned there was no place to take these drugs. She talked with Charles Leiter, who with his father owns a pharmacy in San Jose, and in November 2007 they set up a large green metal box at Leiter’s Pharmacy and invited customers to put unwanted drugs into it--all except narcotics. In the first three days several hundred pounds were dropped in. Leiter has a contract to have the drugs hauled away for incineration.

Although in the long run the drug disposal problem needs a national solution, there is now some hope for at least a statewide approach. Senator Joe Simitian’s SB 966, signed by Governor Schwarzenegger in October 2007, requires the Integrated Waste Management Board to create model disposal programs by the end of 2008 and to report to the Legislature on their potential statewide implementation. The board is looking at various approaches being tried both in this country and abroad.

According to the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, pharmacists fill about 3.3 billion prescriptions a year. Studies have shown that between 35 and 53 percent are not used. A lot continue to flow into landfills and streams and the ocean. Reducing the volume will take much more effort.

Ryan Buchan is a fourth-year journalism student at San Jose State University with a minor in environmental studies. He grew up in South Lake Tahoe, and has written about football for the Pacifica Tribune.