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The Partnership at Drugfree.org
Wake Up to Medicine Abuse
September 23rd – September 30th, 2012
A National Media & Awareness Event
Medicine Abuse – The Issue
The consequences of medicine abuse, including emergency room episodes, treatment admissions and
overdose deaths, have increased dramatically, and it is a behavior that is starting in adolescence. Every
day, 2,500 teens use a prescription drug to get high for the first time, and the death toll from
prescription painkillers alone has tripled in the past decade. Due to these high levels of prescription drug
abuse, drug overdoses are now the leading cause of accidental death in about a third of the states,
outpacing fatalities from car accidents. If the human toll were not enough, all of this has an enormous
drain on the nation’s economy, with the health care costs related to this behavior totaling $72.5 billion
annually.
The need for a serious prevention effort related to medicine abuse has been well documented, most
recently by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) in its 2011 Prescription Drug
Abuse Prevention Plan, which calls for a four-pillar approach, including education of parents, youth,
patients and prescribers, monitoring of prescriptions to reduce doctor shopping, proper medication
disposal and empowering enforcement to eliminate improper prescribing and dispensing practices.
The Partnership at Drugfree.org, in collaboration with a diverse group of committed partners, will
undertake a first-of-its-kind week-long public awareness campaign, “Wake Up to Medicine Abuse” from
September 23 to 30, 2012, to curb the abuse of medicine, one of the biggest drug problems in the
United States today. The campaign will encourage parents and the public to take action: first, by talking
with their kids about the dangers of abusing prescription and over-the-counter medicines, and second,
by safeguarding and properly disposing of unused medications.
The Partnership at Drugfree.org - Our mission
The Partnership at Drugfree.org exists so that every child and adolescent can live a life free from drug
and alcohol abuse. We know that we can make significant progress toward this vision because drug and
alcohol abuse is preventable behavior, and with help, addiction is a treatable disease.
Since 1986, the Partnership (then known as the Partnership for a Drug-free America) has led the call to
action to raise adolescent and parent awareness through award-winning campaigns such as “Your Brain
on Drugs”. Twenty six years later, our impact has evolved to operating as a national non-profit
organization able to engage every household with resources to prevent use and/or assist families
touched by teen and young adult drug and alcohol abuse. With input from our parent and science
advisory boards, we have developed key online engagement areas for parents and professionals focused
on prevention, intervention, access to treatment, and support for individuals and families in recovery.
Each impact area provides scientific drug and alcohol information, support resources, and
communication tools for caregivers. Through each step of engagement we are able to educate and
empower communities of influencers both on a grassroots level, and nationwide through our online
services and bilingual parents helpline (1.855.DRUGFREE).
The Partnership stands as a cause leader in the issue of teen and young adult substance abuse, and
works daily to bring efficient information and hands-on guidance to communities across the country.
Wake Up to Medicine Abuse Objectives
Objectives of Wake Up to Medicine Abuse Week
1. Raise awareness of the medicine abuse problem among the general public, especially parents,
and healthcare professionals through a national media and social engagement campaign.
2. Increase communication between parents and teens about the risks of medicine abuse through
online and point of sale educational resources.
3. Improve interaction between prescribers, dispensers and patients – meaning increased
screenings of patients for risk of addiction and implementation of prescriber / patient
agreements
4. Improve at-home monitoring of supplies of medicine and encourage safe disposal of unused
medicines via a national “take-back” call-to-action.
Promotion & Communication Plan
1. A dedicated web destination for the campaign, with information and tools for parents,
healthcare providers and the general public, national take-back day information, and
recognition of corporate partners.
2. An intensive, week-long communications blitz, aimed at promoting parent-teen conversations
about the risks of abusing prescription drugs, and promoting monitoring and safe disposal of
prescription drugs in the home.
a. Direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising tagged with a simple message about
the dangers of abusing medicine and directing consumers to a dedicated campaign
website.
b. Dedicated campaign advertising to run nationally as public service announcements.
c. Social media component, featuring select content (e.g. videos, checklists, etc.) from the
campaign website and promoting a medicine take-back day
d. Point of sale education / materials disseminated at leading pharmacies, stapled to pain
reliever prescriptions, for example, or delivered via in-store videos.
e. Major PR initiative, enlisting leaders from government, public health, industry and the
media to speak out on the abuse issue and promote proper disposal of medicine.
3. An intensive week-long education initiative focusing on prescribers, equipping them with
research-proven screeners and prescriber / patient agreements relating to appropriate use and
proper monitoring and disposal of prescription medicines.
4. A National Take-back Day aimed at clearing home medicine cabinets of unused prescription
medication.
Strategic Partners
Our strategic partners will play a crucial role raising awareness about the dangers of medicine abuse
during this national campaign. The Partnership at Drugfree.org looks to engage alliances among
membership organizations, grass-roots, advocacy, academic, and health professionals in Wake Up to
Medicine Abuse.
The campaign will be an excellent opportunity for our strategic partners to showcase the good work that
their organizations are doing on the medicine abuse issue and for all of us to work together to drive
down the incidence of this dangerous behavior. Only through a combined effort of partners will
medicine abuse take the forefront as a health priority for adolescents and youth.
If your organization would like to learn more about national and local strategic partner opportunities,
please contact Marcia Lee Taylor, SVP, Government Affairs at [email protected]