Group gets grant to fight abuse

Prescription drug abuse will be focus of campaign

By Venice Buhain | The Olympian • Published July 07, 2008

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LACEY – Together, a Thurston County group that focuses on preventing substance abuse among youths, is one of the first organizations in the state to get money for an anti-prescription-drug-abuse education campaign from a state settlement.

The organization will get $10,000 over two years from the state Attorney General's office to warn parents and grandparents about the dangers of prescription-drug abuse.

"We'll still be working on targeting the youth," Together program director of community mobilization Jim Cooper said. "We're looking specifically for parents, grandparents and guardians."

Together plans to create print, billboard and radio ads, as well as inform churches and service organizations about prescription-drug abuse among teens and the proper way to store and dispose of prescription drugs.

About 10 percent of Thurston County 10th- and 12th-graders reported using painkillers such as Vicodin and OxyContin to get high, according to the 2006 Healthy Youth Survey.

Cooper said most teenagers who abuse prescription drugs get them from a family member or a family medicine cabinet.

"The main point is reducing access. If we can reduce access, we can reduce abuse," he said.

The grant money from the Attorney General's office comes from a multi-state settlement with Purdue Pharma, the makers of OxyContin.

The company and the states reached a settlement after the states alleged that Purdue Pharma strongly marketed the drug for many uses while de-emphasizing the side effects, which include addiction, Attorney General's office spokeswoman Kristin Alexander said.

Washington's share of the $19.5 million settlement was $719,500, Alexander said. The money will be used partly on grants to prevent prescription-drug abuse, she said.

"This gives us an opportunity to help prevent the likelihood of prescription-drug abuse among consumers, especially young people," Alexander said. "When we talk about drug abuse, we talk about illicit drugs, but often times we don't think about what's in our medicine cabinet."

Venice Buhain can be reached at 360-754-5445 or vbuhain@theolympian.com.