NEW YORK ( CNN ) -- A dozen old family photos were strewn across the table as Gary Neal picked them up one by one . Gary Neal lost his son Harrison to a prescription drug overdose at age 17 . The attorney from Tulsa , Oklahoma , reminisced about his teenage son , Harrison , who died two years ago at the age of 17 after fatally mixing over-the-counter cold medication and someone else 's prescription painkillers . `` There 's nothing worse as a parent than to see your kid on a gurney being rolled out of your house ... and placed in a hearse , '' Neal , 61 , lamented . `` There 's nothing worse than that . '' Hoping to get the word out that in the wrong hands , prescription drugs can be deadly , Neal joined forces this year with the New York-based Partnership for a Drug-Free America . `` We have 20 percent of our teenagers , one in five , who have admitted to abusing a prescription medication , '' said Steve Pasierb , president of the organization . `` We know that is based on their attitudes and beliefs that this is safer . '' Pasierb 's group , along with drug maker Abbott , launched an anti-drug campaign this summer called Not in My House . Health Minute : Watch more on one father 's quest to raise awareness » . The Internet-based educational campaign is aimed at educating not just teens but their parents about the dangers of prescription medications . `` This is unlike any drug issue we 've ever dealt with , '' Pasierb explained . `` Supply can be controlled in our own house . We 're not talking about Afghanistan or Colombia . We 're talking about your house and my house . '' Neal learned that his son started experimenting with drugs such as marijuana when he was 15 . `` It was one of those things I was n't happy about , but I did n't think it was the end of the world . '' Neal restricted Harrison 's after-school activities , but he said that when the behavior continued , he ordered his son to submit to home and professional drug tests . He also enrolled Harrison in an outpatient drug treatment program the summer before his death . Neal suspected that the problems were n't behind them , but he was unaware that the teen was abusing prescription drugs . `` I do n't think he knew that his abuse of these prescription drugs would be deadly , '' Neal added . That 's part of the problem being addressed by Pasierb 's group . `` It 's this belief that they 've found something safe . 'Grandma uses it . I can take a couple from her bottle , ' `` Pasierb explained . `` When they 're not used with a prescription and the way they are intended , prescription drugs can be every bit as dangerous , every bit as addictive , every bit as deadly as illegal street drugs . '' What 's more , Pasierb said , `` Over the past eight to 10 years , adolescent substance abuse , teen drinking and teen smoking have all been in a steady decline . The only thing that has been resistant to that progress has been prescription drug abuse . '' Pasierb put part of the blame on parents . The drugs of choice when they were young tended to be illegal ones : marijuana , heroin , cocaine . `` This idea of purposely abusing prescription drugs did n't go on when they were teenagers themselves , '' he said . Part of the Not in My House campaign appeals directly to parents to take action starting with their own medicine cabinets . `` When we get them the message , a light bulb goes off and they are immediately mobilized , '' Pasierb said . `` They go home , they clean out their medicine cabinet ... and they talk with their kids . '' Specifically , the Not in My House campaign recommended that parents take an inventory of prescription medications at home , counting pills left in the bottle or package after every use . Medications should be stored in a safe place that is not readily accessible to everyone in the house . Finally , leftover or expired prescription pills should be disposed of properly . Experts cautioned not to flush medications down the toilet where they could harm the water supply but to place drugs in a an opaque container with something unpleasant mixed in , such as cat litter . The bottle should be sealed and placed in the trash . With the second anniversary of Harrison Neal 's death approaching , his father still has a lot of questions and doubts . `` Could I have done it better ? Could I have done it different ? Would the results have been different ? You never know the answers to those questions because you never get a second chance . `` I 've lamented his death every second since he died and will live with it the rest of my life . ''
One in five teens has admitted to abusing a recreational drug . Anti - drug education aims to educate teens and their awareness of danger . ` ` Not in My Name '' recommends teens take an inventory of meds .