At-home kits available at drug roundup Saturday

Partnership Carson City is hosting its biannual drug roundup this weekend, but is also providing a way for people to dispose of unwanted prescription drugs at home.

“It’s just an easy way to get rid of medication so you don’t have to wait six months,” said Hannah McDonald, executive director of Partnership Carson City.

The agency is offering two methods for home disposal.

The DeTerra container allows a person to deposit unwanted pills or liquid, then add water.

“The absorption packet solidifies everything and makes it unusable,” McDonald said. “Then they can just throw it in the trash.”

It comes in three sizes, with the largest able to dispose of 90 pills, 12 ounces of liquid or 12 patches.

“People can have as many as they need to dispose of medications safely,” McDonald said.

Also available is Dispose Rx, a one-time powder that’s poured directly into a prescription pill bottle.

The pills are absorbed and rendered useless.

Kits are available at the Partnership Carson City office, 1925 N. Carson St., in the Frontier Plaza.

For those who would prefer to use the traditional Drug Roundup stations, they will be set up 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday.

Find them in front of both Save Mart Supermarkets, 3620 N. Carson and 4348 S. Carson streets; Smith’s Food & Drug Store, 559 E. William St.; and FoodMaxx, 3325 Highway 50 East.

Bring syringes in a hard plastic or tin container.

McDonald urged those with expired or unused medications to bring them to the roundup to prevent access to the potentially deadly drugs. Even tossing them in the garbage is too risky, she said.

“It’s sad but true, if someone is searching for medications, they might find them in your trash,” she said. “We have to do everything we can to make sure they can’t be reused.”

Flushing them down the toilet isn’t a viable option.

“There are certain substances that are difficult or even impossible to remove from our water system,” McDonald said. “Putting medication down the drain makes it much more costly to provide our community with safe and clean drinking water.”

Drugs can also be dropped off for disposal at the Carson City Sheriff’s Office, 911 E. Musser St.

For information, call Partnership Carson City at 775-841-4730 or go to pcccarson.org.