The San Francisco Board of Supervisors public safety committee has endorsed new legislation that would force drug manufacturers to safely dispose of the public’s unwanted medications, CBS San Francisco reported today.
Proposed by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, the measure would also require drug companies to pay the costs associated with the program, such as the collection and safe disposal of unwanted pharmaceuticals that might be flushed down the toilet or thrown out in the trash. Mirkarimi told CBS San Francisco, “Wastewater treatment plants are not designed to treat drugs that end up in the sewer system”.
Supervisor John Elsbernd, who opposed the bill, was quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle as saying: “What I’m trying to get at here is that the city and county of San Francisco is in way over its head.”
The legislation was approved by the committee 2-1, and was sent to the full board for consideration.
