Changing the Public's Behavior Around Medicine Abuse National Rx Drug Abuse Summit 4-10-12

1. Medicine Abuse
Awareness Week:
Presentation to the
National Rx Abuse Summit
April 10, 2012

2. Real Danger
Abusing prescription (Rx) and
over-the-counter (OTC) drugs
can be just as
dangerous, addictive and
even deadly as using ‘street’ drugs

3. Rx/OTC Abuse
Every day, 2,500 teens
abuse a prescription drug
for the first time

4. Rx/OTC Medicines Being Abused
• Rx pain relievers (Vicodin, OxyContin)
• Rx stimulants (Adderall, Ritalin)
• Rx tranquilizers/sedatives (Xanax, Valium)
• OTC cough/cold with ‘DXM’ (Robitussin,
Coricidin). Rx cough with codeine.
We must address the behavior of
intentionally abusing medicines

5. Medicine Abuse is “Normalized”
in Teen Culture
• 1 in 3 teens report having a close friend who
abuses Rx pain relievers to get high
• 1 in 5 report abusing an Rx medicine

6. Key Factors Driving Teen Medicine Abuse
• Misperceptions that abusing medicine is not
dangerous (safer than “street drugs”)
• Ease of access via medicine cabinets at home
or friend’s house, own or other person’s
prescriptions

7. What about parents’ perceptions?
• Street drugs are generally considered more
dangerous
• Parents are less familiar with “pills” – they
often have no frame of reference since these
types of drugs of abuse didn’t exist in their youth
• There’s a lack of urgency around Rx-OTC

8. Parent/Kid Conversation
• Only 1 in 5 (20%) teens report that their
parents have never talked to them about
alcohol or illegal drugs
• Half of teens (51%) say their parents have
never talked to them about prescription drug
abuse

9. Prescription Drug Abuse in the Headlines
• White House Office of National Drug Control Strategy’s
2011 Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Plan
• Surgeon General’s Call to Action on Rx Abuse
• Upcoming National Governor’s Association Policy
Academy
• Congressional Hearings
• Top Issue with State Attorneys General
• US Attorneys Conferences
• CDC Report
Everyone is calling for action and
now we need to mobilize and respond

10. How Should We Respond To The Crisis?
Raising Awareness and Taking Action
• Research-based initiative to educate parents, youth, patients,
and prescribers is needed to move the needle on medicine
abuse behavior and consequences
• The Partnership seeks to enlist all major organizations with a
stake–and an important role to play–in preventing all
categories of medicine abuse to join in a concerted effort and
national call to action
• All participants will have an opportunity to showcase their work
on medicine abuse prevention and join with others to deliver
two key messages:
– Clean out your medicine cabinets/Secure
your medications
– Talk to your kids about Rx abuse

11. CDC statistics on consequences
underscore the need for bold action
• Rx pain medication overdoses killed nearly 15,000
people in the US in 2008. This is more than 3 times the
4,000 people killed by these drugs in 1999.
• Quantity of prescription pain medications sold to
pharmacies, hospitals, and doctors’ offices was 4 times
larger in 2010 than in 1999.
• State death rates from drug overdoses (2008 data)
ranged from 27 deaths per 100,000 people in New
Mexico to 5.5 deaths per 100,000 people in Nebraska.

12. CDC statistics on consequences
underscore the need for bold action
• The cost of Rx abuse is estimated to be between $54 and
$72.5 BILLION each year. Also, the direct health care costs
for people who abuse Rx pain medications are eight times
higher than for those who don’t abuse these medications.
• And at the same time we are less equipped as a nation to
deal with this problem as the national prevention
infrastructure is crumbling:
• Safe and Drug Free Schools state grant program eliminated
• National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign eliminated
• SAMHSA block grant to states for prevention programs in jeopardy
• States and localities don’t have resources to
make up for the lost federal dollars

13. How Can We Change the
Public’s Behavior Around
Medicine Abuse?

14. Lessons Learned from Past
Public Education Efforts
on Rx Abuse

15. National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign
First Half 2008
• Focus on prescription drug abuse – dedicated roughly
$14 million between February and July (with media
match = approximately $28 million)
• Campaign message: There’s a dangerous drug risk
to our teens that’s off our radar but under our
noses
• TV advertising schedule (launching in Super Bowl)
supplemented with print advertising, PR and drug
chain flyers stapled to prescriptions

16. National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign
First Half 2008
• Outreach to healthcare professionals and educators
(trade journals, “open letter” newspaper ads) and
community organizations, coalitions (CADCA
Strategizers)
• Heath Ledger dies – January 22, 2008

17. Television Advertising
• Partnership PSA (2007):
Parent-targeted message running in pro-bono media
• “Who’s More Dead?”
• National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign (2008):
Parent-targeted messages running in paid media + match
• “Drug Dealer”
• “All My Pills”

18. Awareness of Advertising – Teen Rx Abuse
Awareness levels from the pre- to post-launch periods
more than doubled from the
launch of the campaign
Up 116%
67%
31%
Post-launch
Pre-launch
N=3,200
N=1,100
Q.17: Have you seen any advertising about prescription drug abuse among teens recently? It may have been
anywhere. – Millward Brown Tracking

19. Parents’ Perceptions –
Prevalence of Teen Rx Abuse
Among those parents who are aware of advertising, perceptions of the prevalence of teen RX
abuse increased significantly from the pre- to post-launch periods
Up 10% 85%
77%
Pre-launch Post-launch
N=1,100 N=3,200
Q.19: How prevalent do you believe prescription drug abuse is among teens? - Millward Brown Tracking

20. Parents’ Beliefs –
Rx Abuse is a Serious Problem Among Teens
There has been a significant jump among parents who viewed the campaign who now believe
that prescription drug abuse is a serious problem among teens
Up 17% 59%
49%
Pre-launch Post-launch
N=1,100 N=3,200
Q.11 series: Prescription drug abuse is a serious problem among teens – Agree strongly / somewhat
Millward Brown Tracking

21. Parents’ Likelihood to Take Action
Among parents who saw the ads, a significant increase was also seen
in intention to take action against teen RX abuse Up 6%
Up 13% Up 12% Up 9% 88%
83%
77% 76% 77%
70%
68% 67%
Safeguard drugs Monitor prescription Properly dispose of Set clear rules for teens
at home drug quantities and old unused medicines about all drug use
control access including not sharing
medicines
Q.20: In the next month, how likely you are to take the following actions with respect to the prescription medicines in
your home? Zero means that you are extremely unlikely, five means you are neither likely nor unlikely and ten means
that you are extremely likely to take that action. --- Millward Brown Tracking

22. Challenges
• “Not My Kid” – a perennial challenge (the “disconnect”)
• Multiple components to the message:
• The dangers of abusing prescription drugs
• My kid is at risk
• The danger is actually in my medicine cabinet
• What can / should parents do?
• And a watchout: don’t demonize medicine
• There’s a dangerous drug risk to our teens that’s off
our radar but under our noses
• Danger: the comparison with illegal street drugs
• My kid: the innocent schoolboy
• Off our radar: the sly appropriation of legitimate medicine
for purposes of abuse, trading, selling
• Under our nose – print “medicine cabinet” ads

23. Rx Drugs Used Without Prescription
PRESCRIPTION
Have Used
28%
PARENTS
37%
TEENS
26a. Have you ever personally used a prescription drug that was not prescribed for you by a doctor?
Almost 3 out of 10 parents have taken an Rx drug
without a prescription
Partnership Study (2007): Cause for Concern

24. When it’s OK to give teen Rx drugs
27. In your opinion, in which of the following situations, if any, would be okay for a parent to give their teen a prescription drug that was not prescribed for him/her?
One-quarter (27%) believe there are certain situations when it
is ok to give an Rx that was not prescribed for him/her
Partnership Study (2007): Cause for Concern

25. Prescription drug given to teen
IPTIONS GIVEN TO TEEN
25. Have you ever given your teen a prescription drug that was not prescribed for him/her?
8% of parents have given their teen an Rx drug without a
doctor’s prescription
Partnership Study (2007): Cause for Concern

26. Call to Action:
Medicine Abuse
Awareness Week
One defined period in the Fall of 2012 in
which all major organizations with a stake in
preventing medicine abuse will join in a
national education effort and call to action.

27. Medicine Abuse Awareness Week
Objectives:
1) Raise awareness of the Rx abuse problem among
the general public, especially parents, and health
care professionals
2) Increase communication between parents and
teens about the risks of Rx abuse
3) Improve interaction between prescribers,
dispensers and patients
4) Improve at-home monitoring of medicine supply
5) Drive safe disposal of unused medicines via a
national “takeback” call to action

28. Medicine Abuse Awareness Week
Components:
1) Dedicated web destination with information and tools for
parents, healthcare providers and the general public, and
promoting a national take-back day
2) Intensive communications blitz aimed at (1) promoting
parent-teen conversations about the risks of Rx abuse and
(2) promoting monitoring and safe disposal of drugs
• Tagging DTC and other advertising
• Dedicated Campaign Advertising
• Social Media
• Point-of-sale education/materials at leading pharmacies
• Major PR initiative enlisting government leaders,
public health professionals and industry

29. Medicine Abuse Awareness Week
Components:
3) Prescriber Education Initiative
Screeners, prescriber-patient agreements, video materials for waiting
rooms, etc.
4) National Takeback Day
5) Evaluation of Effectiveness

30. Importance of Large, Broad-Based Effort
• All of the organizations represented here today could
have a key role in the public relations efforts,
prescriber education initiatives and/or takeback day
• Having everyone work together would bring the
prevention messages to scale and show unity
• Good way to promote your organization's ongoing
efforts in this area and partner with people in new
ways

31. Strategic Partners
• Government Officials (Surgeon General, National
Governors Association, US Conference of Mayors,
State Legislators, etc.)
• Law Enforcement
• Medical Professional Organizations
• Public Health Organizations
• Drug Prevention Organizations

32. Discussion
• How can we get as many groups as possible
involved in this national effort?
• How can your group participate?
• How can we broaden the impact of Medicine
Abuse Awareness Week?
• Who else should be involved?