August is National Drug Drop-Off Month

August is National Drug Drop-Off Month

Clean out your medication cabinet!

It is important to check your medicine cabinet and home regularly for medications that are expired or no longer needed, and safely dispose of them. Medications can be accidentally used or intentionally misused, which can put the ones you love and others in your home, including pets and children, at risk. To avoid accidents and misuse, remember to keep all medications out of reach in a non-accessible place.

Additionally, medications which have passed their expiration date, including over-the-counter products, vitamins and minerals, may start to degrade and become less effective. Some expired medications can also become dangerous as they degrade so it is best to dispose of them right away.

Return medications to your pharmacist

One of the easiest, convenient, and safest ways to dispose of your unwanted medication is to bring them to your local pharmacy, for safe disposal of all your old, unused and/or expired medications at no cost to you! Flushing drugs down the toilet or throwing them in the garbage is bad for the environment and unsafe. 

What and How to return items:

·         All prescription medications such as ointments, tablets and capsules, over-the-counter products such as cough syrup, pain medications,

·         Natural health products such as vitamins and supplements, inhalers and devices such as epinephrine auto injectors, and needles or sharps in appropriate disposal containers. For your safety and the safety pharmacy staff, needles and sharps will only be accepted in appropriate sharps containers, which you can obtain from your pharmacy. Be sure to remove all tablets, pills & capsules from their packaging prior to bringing to the pharmacy for disposal.

Drug Over-Dose Awareness Day

On August 31^st, members of the Toronto Police Service, Rexall Pharmacy and Drug-Free Kids Canada will be at three Rexall Pharmacy locations between 10am-2pm to start the conversation about safe disposal of medications and drug over-dose awareness. Free Naloxone kits will also be handed out.

901 Eglinton Avenue West

474 Spadina Avenue

539 Parliament Street