Son's death prompts parents to fight for new Rx drug law
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GRANITE FALLS, Wash. -- A Granite Falls couple who lost their son to a drug overdose is crusading for a law which would require pharmacies to take back unused prescription drugs.
Because they're relatively easy to obtain, authorities say more and more young people are experimenting with prescription drugs.
"Prescription drugs are the drugs of choice for kids in school. They are easily accessible out of the medicine cabinets," said Cmdr. Pat Slack of the Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force.
Rebecca Runyon is now painfully aware of that fact. Runyon lost her son, 18-year-old Tylor Runyon, to a prescription drug overdose.
"I face my son's death every day of my life," she said. "It just sucks
Tylor took part in what is called a "pharm party," where kids ingest huge quantities of prescription drugs, oftentimes without knowing what they're taking.
Rebecca and her partner, Andrew Maggard, cleaned out her step father's house when he died, including his medicine cabinet.
"We put them in a bag. We looked through to be sure there was nothing narcotic, anything that would tempt kids, and put them there until we could take them to the dump or figure out what to do with them," Maggard said.
Tylor found the pills and took them to a party, where he his friends took dozens of gout pills.
"The kids are desperate to get high," Maggard said.
His two friends took 30 pills each, while Tylor took 40 pills, according to his mother.
"Their kidneys shut down, and their hearts shut down," Maggard said.
In the wake of his tragic death, Runyon and Maggard are now crusading for a law to require drug-return boxes at drug stores. There are currently drug take-back programs in 17 of Washington's 39 counties, but they are voluntary and only police departments can take back narcotics.
The bill failed by two votes in the house, and Maggard has a message for those who voted it down.
"What if it was your son? How can they not see the seriousness of it?" he said.
The bill, which Maggard calls "Tylor's Law," is still alive in the Senate.
Because they're relatively easy to obtain, authorities say more and more young people are experimenting with prescription drugs.
"Prescription drugs are the drugs of choice for kids in school. They are easily accessible out of the medicine cabinets," said Cmdr. Pat Slack of the Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force.
Rebecca Runyon is now painfully aware of that fact. Runyon lost her son, 18-year-old Tylor Runyon, to a prescription drug overdose.
"I face my son's death every day of my life," she said. "It just sucks
Tylor took part in what is called a "pharm party," where kids ingest huge quantities of prescription drugs, oftentimes without knowing what they're taking.
Rebecca and her partner, Andrew Maggard, cleaned out her step father's house when he died, including his medicine cabinet.
"We put them in a bag. We looked through to be sure there was nothing narcotic, anything that would tempt kids, and put them there until we could take them to the dump or figure out what to do with them," Maggard said.
Tylor found the pills and took them to a party, where he his friends took dozens of gout pills.
"The kids are desperate to get high," Maggard said.
His two friends took 30 pills each, while Tylor took 40 pills, according to his mother.
"Their kidneys shut down, and their hearts shut down," Maggard said.
In the wake of his tragic death, Runyon and Maggard are now crusading for a law to require drug-return boxes at drug stores. There are currently drug take-back programs in 17 of Washington's 39 counties, but they are voluntary and only police departments can take back narcotics.
The bill failed by two votes in the house, and Maggard has a message for those who voted it down.
"What if it was your son? How can they not see the seriousness of it?" he said.
The bill, which Maggard calls "Tylor's Law," is still alive in the Senate.
