Drug drop off aims to save lives

CLARENCE, N.Y. (WIVB) - The unneeded medications in your home could lead to danger or death for your child.

A concerned community rallies with a prescription event it believes will save lives.

The Eastern Hills Mall parking lot is the place where people are dropped off unused prescription medications before they get in the wrong hands.

Mother, Suzanne Crotty exclaimed, "My son died from an overdose of prescription drugs."

Suzanne's son Zachary died nearly eight months ago. He was only a teenager.

"They weren't in our house, they were someplace else," she explained.

Suzanne supports the prescription drug drop-off.

She explained, "These drugs are out there. They're in everyone's medicines cabinets, in everyone's house, and they need to be removed."

One of the people behind the drug drive also has a personal story and worry.

Dr. Lawrence stated, "One year ago, I had surgery. I had a script for Loritab, 30 pills. I know I took two and a half of them."

When Dr. Teresa Lawrence went to get those drugs for this drop-off, drugs she thought were in a safe place, the mother of two, ages 13 and 11, discovered they were missing.

"There are eight pills left in that bottle. I didn't take them. I hope it wasn't my children," she expressed.

No questions were asked here. With studies showing more kids will abuse prescription meds than pot, organizers in Clarence are just grateful people are taking time to drive up and drop off, removing a potential danger from their home.

There was a time when people would just dump medications in the toilet and flush them.

Karl Fiebelkorn of the UB School of Pharmacy stated, "Now the Food and Drug Administration, and the White House, says don't flush them anymore because they go into our rivers and streams."

Many people may not be aware that research shows children start getting into prescription medications at the age of 12.

"The drugs weren't in our house but they find. The kids, it's party time for them. The drugs are so easily obtainable," a mother expressed.

Clarence organizers told News 4 Erie County provided support for this effort.

The drugs that were dropped off will be packed up and taken to a facility in Niagara Falls, where they will be incinerated in an environmentally friendly way.