The piles of pills read like a detailed account of the last four decades of pharmaceutical history.

Morphine, codeine, antibiotics and herbal remedies were just some of the hundreds of old medications turned in to Tucson pharmacies as part of Southern Arizona's first Expired and Unused Medication Drive.

Dates on the medications ranged from 1995 back to 1961. Some drugs were stored together in paper bags, their identifying bottles and warning labels long since discarded.

In all, 800 pounds of old prescription medications were collected by local pharmacies, including one pharmacy that collected 180 pounds of outdated drugs.

Held for two weeks in January, the main message of the expired medication drive was getting people to rid their medicine cabinets of outdated medications that could be potentially harmful today.

"It's human nature to keep medications around that we think can help us, but the risk comes when we mix those with newer drugs and over-the-counter remedies," said Ted Tong, Pharm.D., associate dean for academic affairs at the UA College of Pharmacy.

Some drugs, like tetracycline, can break down over time and become toxic, Tong said. Other medications can lose their potency depending on how they are stored.

To encourage people to turn in their old drugs to be disposed, local pharmacies offered a $5 off coupon.

The College of Pharmacy joined with Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Smiths's, Safeway and Fry's pharmacies in Tucson and Green Valley to promote awareness of the drive and to collect the expired medications.