Rx Drug Abuse - Think About It

Downloadable Resources

Power Point Presentation (3 MB)
A powerful power point presentation (.pptx) outlining the surprisingly widespread drug abuse in our culture today.

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*** The Prescription Drug Abuse Project does not receive any state or federal funding. This project is dependent upon volunteer donations from people who are concerned about the abuse of Prescription Drugs- like you. Please help us by donating today.

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RxDrugAbuse.org is a website created by the Medical Association of Georgia Foundation to educate people about the dangers of prescription drug abuse in Georgia. The MAG Foundation is a non-profit foundation and each donation is tax deductible.

Rx Drug Abuse is Now a Serious Problem

Facts on Prescription Drug Abuse

Abuse of Prescription drugs is now a nationwide epidemic that exceeds the use of illegal drugs and is growing at an increasing rate
As reported this week, the deaths from accidental overdose of prescription drugs now exceeds the deaths from auto accidents
The CDC reports that one in five high school students school have abused prescription drugs
The GBI reports that 76% of the accidental drug deaths in Georgia are from prescription drugs
Pill Mills are moving into Georgia from Florida
In the first six months of 2010, Georgia was third in the nation in the sale of OxyContin
The Surgeon General's office estimates that 70% of the supply comes from family and friends
The new Georgia Prescription Drug Monitoring Program signed into law this year will help to identify pill mill operations and individuals that are securing multiple prescriptions. A grant has been received to implement the program in 2013.

The MAG Foundation "Think About It" Program is a multi-year program, aligned with a number of collaborative partner organizations such as the GBI and is built on three initiatives:

Facilitating the development of a comprehensive drug policy for Georgia
Education of public and professionals
Development of drug safety programs that promote various means to secure drugs in the home and to provide safe disposal of unneeded drugs

Consider These Statistics

As a public health issue, the misuse of prescription drugs surpasses the problems from illegal drugs.

"...1 in 5 high school students in the United States has taken a prescription drug, such as OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin, Adderall, Ritalin, or Xanax, without a doctor's prescription."

-CDC Press Release, June 3, 2010

Emergency Department visits involving nonmedical use of prescription narcotic pain relievers rose 111% from 2004-2008.

-CDC Press Release, June 17, 2010

Our Goals

To reduce prescription drug abuse by education and by addressing the factors in our community that increase the risk of abuse, and

To establish and strengthen collaboration among school systems, civic groups, nonprofit agencies, and Federal, State, and local governments to support the efforts of our community coalition to prevent and reduce substance abuse among youth.