Oh for crying out loud. AlterNet has an article about pharmaceuticals in water supplies that really has me sitting here shaking my head in disbelief. It sounds like a cheerleading piece for Pharma, pointing out how they are so very eager to work with the EPA to stem this problem straightaway. Pardon me? Why do you suppose there are so many pharmaceuticals getting into water supplies? Oh wait, I know-because they are aggressively marketing drugs to people that do not need them. Geez.
What’s more, the article points to pharmaceutical collection sites where people can drop off their unused drugs. Apparently, tossing them away is going to lead to an addict going through your curbside rubbish looking for beta-blockers. Or birth control. So please, just drop off your unused drugs at (no, I’m not making this up) the police station. Excellent. I know when I’m looking to dispose of my medications; I want to hand over my personal information to the police. They already have dossiers on all the allergy sufferers and people with head colds-do they really need to know if you have high cholesterol or an overactive bladder? God help you if you are taking painkillers, particularly since people are being sentenced to prison for being in possession-even with a prescription (and no intent to distribute).
I have no idea if drugs in the water is anything to worry about or not, but I do know that this piece sounds like a pro-pharma, pro-police bit of rubbish. I mean, that bit about grinding-up one’s unused prescriptions and mixing them with coffee grounds so they addicts can’t get high going through your trash is absurd. Or maybe not-I can see future legislation making it a crime to not protect addicts from themselves by mixing your unused pills with coffee grounds. Maybe they’ll make it a felony-intent to distribute through the rubbish.