30Sep, 2017

Fulton County Opioid Prevention Awareness Month

opioid prevention month

Saturday, September 30, 2017, All day event

In 2016, more than 150 people died in Fulton County from opioid-related causes. The Centers for Disease Control has declared use of opioids –including fentanyl, oxycontin and hydrocodone — a serious public health threat. Overdoses now surpass car crashes as the leading cause of accidental death.

This year, the Fulton County Board of Commissioners unanimously adopted an Opioid Abuse and Misuse Prevention Plan, sponsored by Interim Chairman Bob Ellis and Commissioner Liz Hausmann.

SEPTEMBER IS OPIOID ABUSE PREVENTION MONTH

  • Follow #FultonFightsOpioids on social media for messages throughout the month. Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
  • Download our Opioid Awareness Toolkit to help spread the word about the dangers of opioid abuse and misuse.
  • Use our Drug Drop Box Locator Tool to safely dispose of prescription pain killers. Misused prescription pain killers are the leading causes of future opioid addiction.

DID YOU KNOW… 

  • More than 33,000 people in the US died of opioid/heroin overdoses in 2015, a quadruple increase since 1999.
  • 2 million people are addicted to pain pills at any given time and 91 Americans die daily of opioid overdoses.
  • Every day more than 1,000 people are treated in emergency rooms for misusing opioids.
  • Of 1,300 drug overdose deaths in 2015 in Georgia, nearly 70 percent were due to opioid overdoses including heroin.
  • Georgia is among the top 11 states with the most prescription opioid deaths.
  • The number of heroin/opioid related deaths in an area known as “The Triangle” in North Fulton has skyrocketed 4000% in recent years and while awareness has been raised, the deaths continue.
  • Georgia law now allows family members, friends, coworkers and other persons in a position to provide assistance to persons experiencing an opioid related overdose to obtain naloxone without a prescription.

THE PRESCRIPTION PAIN KILLER LINK

  • Opioid prescriptions have quadrupled since 1999 and 183,000 have died from overdoses.
  • Four in five new heroin users started out by misusing prescription pain killers.
  • Every day 2500 teens use a prescription drug for non-medical reasons.
  • 70 percent of misused prescription drugs come from friends and family.
  • 7.8 Million opioid prescriptions are dispensed in Georgia alone, the equivalent of one for every adult.
  • Americans consume up to 80 percent of the world’s prescription opioids, but make up just 5% of the world’s population.
  • Deaths from synthetic opioids jumped 72 percent in 2015 from the previous year.
  • Georgia’s state medical board now requires every doctor to get training on how to properly prescribe opioids.
  • In 2015, 276,000 youth were using pain killers and nearly half of them were addicted.

DISPOSE OF DRUGS SAFELY

  • Teens often find pain killers in their parents’ medicine cabinet and try them. It can be the first step to addiction.
  • If you have prescription pain killers in your home, get rid of them safely. Use the Fulton County Drug Disposal Box Finder Tool to find a disposal box close to you. CLICK HERE FOR THE FULTON COUNTY DRUG DISPOSAL FINDER