Last month, the President hosted a community discussion on the prescription drug abuse and heroin epidemic. The forum focused on developing and implementing responses that involve all sectors of the community. The President announced two initiatives to address this problem: prescriber training and improving access to treatment.
More Americans
now die every year from drug overdoses than they do in motor vehicle crashes
and the majority of those overdoses involve prescription medications. Opioids
are a class of prescription pain medications that includes hydrocodone,
oxycodone, morphine, and methadone. Heroin belongs to the same class of drugs,
and four in five heroin users started out by misusing prescription opioid pain
medications.
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| This fact sheet was distributed through local pharmacies. |
Locally, the
Prevention WINS coalition and partners are doing their part to prevent prescription drug abuse. Prevention WINS
reached out to area pharmacies asking them to post a flyer talking about
preventing and reducing underage drug abuse by locking up and/or keeping track
of medications. The flyer has facts about teen prescription medicine
abuse and resources for help. Prevention WINS also asked the pharmacies
to include a smaller version in the bags with the medicine dispensed.
Katterman's Pharmacy and the University Village QFC pharmacy agreed to
post the flyers and include the inserts with the medications. GroupHealth agreed to do this in nearly all their Washington GHC pharmacies. The materials were distributed
to the three pharmacies the last week of October. Katterman's received
500 inserts, University QFC received 1,500 and Group Health received 3,000.
