Big Sky High School student Mary Donoghue is hosting a community safe prescription drug drop-off event at Southgate Mall this Saturday in Missoula. Donoghue said her mom died from a drug overdose when Mary was only a sophomore in high school and her senior project looks to prevent other incidents like this in the local community.

"A prescription drug collection at the mall will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 23," Donoghue said. "I've been talking to Dean Christensen from the police department, Emily Bentley who has been my mentor, she's a city councilwoman, and just a few other people to help get the word out."

Donoghue said she has worked closely with other different Missoula citizens to help spread the word about not just drug overdose and addiction, but about how to properly dispose of prescription drugs.

"Research says that 54 percent of people who abuse prescription drug medication get it from friends or relatives when they go through their medicine cabinets and steal it. Also, throwing it away or flushing it away is also really damaging to the environment," Donoghue said. "So this makes for a safe way of disposing it correctly."

"The issue of prescription drug abuse is important for me because during my sophomore year my mother struggled with an addiction that led to her death," Donoghue said. "When I was given the opportunity to choose a Senior Project, I wanted to organize something that would help prevent a tragedy like this from happening in our community."

More From 94.9 KYSS FM