The safest way to get rid of unused medication, according to a new recommendation, is to dispose of in cat litter. Used cat litter, preferably.

Says this AP story:

So 6,300 pharmacies around the country have signed up for a pilot project with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. When patients fill prescriptions for a list of abuse-prone medicines, from Ambien to Vicodin, the pharmacist also will hand over a flyer urging them to take the cat-litter step if they don't wind up using all their pills.

Not a cat owner? Old coffee grounds work, or doggie doo, even sawdust. Just seal the meds and the, er, goop in a plastic bag before tossing in the trash.

This is all to avoid people dumping their meds down the toilet, which then can send them sailing through the water system.

Just be sure to remove the hopped-up litter from your cat's box quickly. Nobody wants to see Felix all whacked out on Viagra ...

I'll bet the cats in question would urge these people to simply take all of the prescriptions, as written.

I think I see a Slice column in here somewhere ...