Campaign to fight opioid abuse launched

SAN DIEGO COUNTY

SAN DIEGO

With more than 2,200 accidental overdose deaths involving prescription opioids reported in the region over the past decade, San Diego County officials have launched a new public outreach campaign to battle the problem.

Over the next six months, digital ads and information on social media will be released to target people at risk of becoming addicts with a goal of reducing overdoses. A series of town hall meetings also are planned.

County officials say a new approach was needed to fight the problem of opioid abuse, which a top health official termed a public health crisis. In 2018, 210 accidental overdose deaths involving prescription opioids alone or combined with other drugs or alcohol were reported the county.

“It’s clear that if we want to be more successful in responding to the opioid crisis and preventing overdose deaths, we need to do something different,” county District Attorney Summer Stephan said in a statement.

The San Diego Opioid Project campaign seeks to not just raise awareness but to change behavior, county officials said.

“Opioid abuse can impact anyone regardless of age, ethnicity or income level and accidental overdoses are preventable,” county Health and Human Services Director Nick Macchione said in a statement. “This campaign is a significant part of the county’s ongoing efforts to address this public health crisis.”

The campaign will address misconceptions people have about the “safety” of abusing prescription opioids compared to street drugs like heroin. A second phase will focus on how quickly people can overdose, sometimes with people around them not even realizing it. The third phase focuses on the issue of pills being laced with other substances like fentanyl.

Information about the campaign can be found online at Sandiegoopioidproject.org.

In the first video of the program, which was posted on Youtube two weeks ago, viewers learn that prescription opioids and heroin both affect the brain in a similar way, targeting receptors that regulate pain and emotion.