Site MapSecure Medicine Return Bill
The Secure Medicine Return Bill, sponsored by Representative Dawn Morrell and Senator Adam Kline, will create a producer-provided medicine return program that is convenient, safe and secure for residents throughout the state. Leftover prescription drugs and over-the-counter medicines will be securely collected and safely disposed to help reduce access to drugs, reduce risks of poisonings, and reduce environmental contamination.
House bill summary | Senate bill summary
Over 70 organizations supported the Secure Medicine Return bill to protect our families and our communities. View list of 2010 bill supporters
Community need and demand for drug take-back programs is great. Over 40,000 pounds have been collected and safely disposed at just 37 pharmacies since October 2006 with little advertising. Narcotics and other controlled substances are being collected at more than 40 police or sheriff’s offices in seven counties (Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, King, Pierce, Snohomish, and Thurston).
These programs demonstrate the strong community demand for drug take-back, but they are stop-gap measures without long-term funding, and serve only a small percentage of the state. For example, there are no programs collecting narcotics in many large cities, and none east of the mountains.
A statewide medicine return program using drop-off locations is estimated to cost less than half of a penny per container of medicine sold in Washington. Pharmaceutical companies pay for medicine return programs in B.C., Canada and some European countries.
Learn more about costs of operating medicine return programs
2010 Legislative Update
March 2010: The bills had substantial support in both houses, but were strongly opposed by the powerful pharmaceutical industry lobby. In the House, 2SHB 1165 was pulled out of the Rules committee (where it had progressed during the 2009 session) to the floor calendar. The Senate bill was passed, with amendments, by the Health and Long Term Care Committee and the Ways and Means Committee, but did not pass out of Rules. The bills did not receive a floor vote in either chamber.
For information about future legislative initiatives on medicine return, please contact Margaret Shield, Local Hazardous Waste Management Program in King County at margaret.shield@kingcounty.gov or (206) 265-9732.