Medication and sharps disposal

Unsecured medication and sharps at home can lead to injury, misuse, poisoning, overdose, and environmental harm. You can help prevent these risks by safely discarding medication and sharps at designated locations throughout Monterey County.

Visit the locations in the chart below to safely discard:

Expired or unused prescription medication, including controlled substances (e.g., opioids, benzodiazepines, stimulants) and non-controlled substances (e.g., antibiotics, blood pressure or cholesterol medication)

Over-the-counter medication (e.g., pain relievers, allergy medicine)

Sharps (e.g., needles, syringes, lancets)

Can you flush or throw away medication or sharps?

Flushing medication and putting medication or sharps in the trash can harm water systems, wildlife, and your community. If you put medication in the trash or toilet, it may leach into the ground in a landfill or pollute water supplies. Water treatment plants can’t always remove medical chemicals.

How to prepare medication and sharps for disposal

Prescription and over-the-counter medications — Remove medication from its original container and place in a clear zipper bag. Then, take it to one of the locations below

Sharps — Get sharps disposal containers from a pharmacy, hazardous waste disposal site, or by mail. When the container is a little more than halfway full, take it to one of the locations below

Medication and sharps disposal locations

All locations provide free disposal of medication and sharps. Liquids, creams, and ointments are not accepted at any location.

City	Organization	Accepts over-the-counter medication	Accepts non-controlled medication	Accepts controlled medication	Accepts sharps
Carmel	CVS Pharmacy	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Castroville	Castroville Branch Library	Yes	Yes	No	No
Del Rey Oaks	Del Rey Oaks Police Department	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Gonzales	Gonzales Police Department	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Greenfield	Greenfield Police Department	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
King City	King City Police Department	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
King City	Monterey County Behavioral Health	Yes	Yes	No	No
Marina	Marina Police Department	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Marina	Monterey County Behavioral Health	Yes	Yes	No	No
Marina	Walgreens	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Monterey	Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula (front lobby)	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Monterey	Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula (pharmacy)	No	No	Yes	No
Monterey	Hartnell Professional Center	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Monterey	Montage Medical Group, Ryan Ranch	Yes	Yes	No	No
Monterey	Montage Medical Group, Cardiology	Yes	Yes	No	No
Monterey	Monterey Police Department	Yes	Yes	No	No
Monterey	Pacific Rehabilitation & Pain	Yes	Yes	No	No
Pacific Grove	Central Avenue Pharmacy (CAP Rx)	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Pacific Grove	Pacific Grove Police Department	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Pebble Beach	Pebble Beach Community Services District	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Salinas	Alisal Health Center	Yes	Yes	No	No
Salinas	AllCare Pharmacy	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Salinas	CVS Pharmacy	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Salinas	Monterey County Behavioral Health	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Salinas	Monterey County Health Department	Yes	Yes	No	No
Salinas	Prunedale Branch Library	Yes	Yes	No	No
Salinas	ReGen Monterey	Yes	No	No	Yes
Salinas	Star Pharmacy & Gifts	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Salinas	Sun Street Centers	Yes	Yes	No	No
Salinas	Valley Health Associates	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Seaside	Seaside Police Department	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Seaside	Walgreens	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Soledad	Monterey County Behavioral Health	Yes	Yes	No	No

Prescribe Safe program

Prescribe Safe aims to save and improve lives by helping to prevent and address addiction.