Illinois Statutes Chapter 410. Public Health § 720/5. Findings

(1) A safe system for the collection and disposal of unused, unwanted, and expired medicines is a key element of a comprehensive strategy to prevent prescription drug abuse and pharmaceutical pollution. Home medicine cabinets are full of unused and expired prescription drugs, only a fraction of which get disposed of properly.

(2) Storing unused, unwanted, or expired medicines can lead to accidental poisoning, drug abuse, and even drug trafficking, but disposing of medicines by flushing them down the toilet or placing them in the garbage can contaminate groundwater and other bodies of water, contributing to long-term harm to the environment and animal life.

(3) Manufacturers of these drugs hold the ultimate responsibility for the lasting impacts of the drugs they produce.

(4) The General Assembly therefore finds that it is in the interest of public health and environmental protection to establish a single, uniform, statewide system of regulation for safe and secure collection and disposal of medicines through a uniform drug “take-back” program operated and funded by drug manufacturers.