# 2 Questions about expiration dates on meds **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 26, 2008, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-questions-about-expiration-dates-on-meds/465314 "2008-09-26T12:35:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-questions-about-expiration-dates-on-meds/465314/21 "2008-09-27T15:29:20Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > And because he’s slightly drunk, my husband has requested that I include this smiley in my post: :smack: because he thinks he’s funny. Not drunk enough for you to tell him you did when you didn’t, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-questions-about-expiration-dates-on-meds/465314/22 "2008-09-27T17:20:22Z")
He was sitting next to me at the time. He never reads the boards, and so had never seen the smiley before and thought he was quite clever. I figured it was pretty harmless. At least the rest of the post addressed the OP. Unlike this one 😃 ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-questions-about-expiration-dates-on-meds/465314/23 "2008-09-27T21:53:58Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > …because I was just doing my yearly cleanup of the medicine cabinet to trash the expired … > > Second, are medications expected to expire and degrade safely? Is an expired medicine just useless or can they be actually dangerous/toxic? …just so we get medicines from her to throw away and deplete her stash… Please don’t tell me you simply throw old pills into the normal trash/garbage can!:eek: Either bring them to the nearest pharmacy, as they know how to dispose them safely (if they are competent, which I hope) or give them to your local poison mobile van when it shows up. Or donate them to those org. that test and deliver them to the 3rd world like Philster described). ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-questions-about-expiration-dates-on-meds/465314/24 "2008-09-28T03:13:53Z")
> [@constanze](#): > > Please don’t tell me you simply throw old pills into the normal trash/garbage can!:eek: > Either bring them to the nearest pharmacy, as they know how to dispose them safely (if they are competent, which I hope) or give them to your local poison mobile van when it shows up. Or donate them to those org. that test and deliver them to the 3rd world like Philster described). Definitely no poison mobile van in these latitudes. Taking them to the pharmacy might be worth the effort for the sake of the laugh at seeing their confused faces. Do these organizations take post-consumer drugs? So yes, I throw them in the garbage out of their containers and mixed with the yuckie. That is the safest I can think up considering my options. I guess I could conceivably store them until my next trip to the US mainland, but just the thought of having to explain this odd cargo to a TLA officer makes me not want to. If there is something I can do at home to really kill them, such as mixing them with bleach or something of the sort, I am all ears. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-questions-about-expiration-dates-on-meds/465314/25 "2008-09-28T13:54:29Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > If that is the case and expiration dates are just arbitrary, then I am even more surprised at the long life of controlled medicines. They should “expire” in two months from the date of purchase. That would eliminate at least the most nervous druggies (although now that I think of it, they probably don’t buy them in the recipient with a printed label) This might be a hijack, but I don’t think anyone else addressesed this. Drug abusers do not ask expiration dates or much of anything else. They are just happy if they recognize the pill or capsule. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-questions-about-expiration-dates-on-meds/465314/26 "2008-09-28T14:28:22Z")
> [@robcaro](#): > > I recently read in the internet that it is dangerous to flush expired medicines down the toilet because they get into the water supply. Which brings another question. If expired medicines are no longer any good, why is it dangerous to flush them? Related Straight Dope: [People take medications. They excrete them. What happens next? Could it affect the water supply? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2723/people-take-medications-they-excrete-them-what-happens-next) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-questions-about-expiration-dates-on-meds/465314.md?page=1)