# Is there a legal market for unused prescription meds? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 21, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-legal-market-for-unused-prescription-meds/635410 "2012-09-21T17:11:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-legal-market-for-unused-prescription-meds/635410/1 "2012-09-21T17:11:43Z")
I have gout. When I was first diagnosed with it, the doctor prescribed me a medicine which, it turned out, gave me an allergic reaction. So I have the excess pills which theoretically could do someone out there some good…but is there any way for the pills to reach them? I don’t believe the pharmacy will take them back. Even if I don’t get any money for them, it seems like a waste to just throw them out. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-legal-market-for-unused-prescription-meds/635410/2 "2012-09-21T17:18:48Z")
The trouble is, unless you get pills from a pharmacist or doctor, how do you know what you are getting is real? Especially, once money starts changing hands, there’s a real temptation to fake pills? How do you know the person you are giving them to really should be getting them - they may be hypochondriac, or willfully blind to the consequences. Should you have to learn to validate a prescription first? Who checks for drug interactions? Too many dangerous issues. Even returning them to the pharmacist - if there’s money at stake, he’d have to use a lab to check that you’re not trying to return fakes for cash. Assuming they were stored correctly… ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-legal-market-for-unused-prescription-meds/635410/3 "2012-09-21T17:33:43Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > I have gout. When I was first diagnosed with it, the doctor prescribed me a medicine which, it turned out, gave me an allergic reaction. So I have the excess pills which theoretically could do someone out there some good…but is there any way for the pills to reach them? I don’t believe the pharmacy will take them back. It’s against the law for you to give those drugs to someone else, or for the pharmacy to take them back and redistribute them. There’s no way to ensure the efficacy of those drugs (that they aren’t expired, haven’t been tampered with, etc.). Many communities have programs to collect and dispose of unused pills, usually run by local law enforcement. Take your pills there. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-legal-market-for-unused-prescription-meds/635410/4 "2012-09-21T17:47:33Z")
They did this on ER. One of the doctors was attempting to distribute the freebies that he got from the sales reps to poor people in his community and got into all sorts of legal doggy-doo when somebody died as a result. It’s just not doable in the United States. You’re just gonna have to toss them. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-legal-market-for-unused-prescription-meds/635410/5 "2012-09-21T19:20:09Z")
I recently had heart surgery. The handful of pills I’m taking now are very different than the handfull of pills I took pre-surgery, and even some post-surgery pills have been discontinued. I took all the unused ones to my pharmacist; she accepted them, but for all I know, she threw them out. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-legal-market-for-unused-prescription-meds/635410/6 "2012-09-21T20:07:41Z")
The answer is no, and for the reasons already described here. You can get rid of them properly on Sept 29: [National Take Back Initiative](http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/index.html) That way, you do not have to worry about polluting the environment with them, or having someone get into them by accident while they are sitting on your shelf for a few years. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-legal-market-for-unused-prescription-meds/635410/7 "2012-09-21T20:26:41Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > You can get rid of them properly on Sept 29: > > [National Take Back Initiative](http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/index.html) I had seen that my local PD was having an expired drug collection drive on that day and marked it on my calendar, but did not realize it was a national campaign. Cool.