PaStop.org is Pennsylvania’s new hub for information on opiate use, addiction, and treatment. It’s an awareness campaign designed to help professionals and members of the public understand the risks of opiate use and how to get help.
The Stop Opiate Abuse Campaign was funded by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) and overseen by the Commonwealth Prevention Alliance (CPA).
“We have developed media products that can be used by agencies, community coalitions, parents, caregivers, and other concerned groups or individuals throughout the state to spread a clear, consistent message about the dangers of prescription drug and opiate abuse,” said Kathrine Muller, Project Coordinator from the CPA.
The campaign utilizes two themes: “Anyone can become addicted. Anyone.” and “Break the Connection.”
Goals
The Stop Opiate Abuse campaign has three main goals:
- Educate and inform Pennsylvania citizens about the dangers of prescription drug abuse to prevent addiction from occurring
- Increase the number of referrals to treatment by providing information to individuals and family members about where to get help and how the treatment process works
- Reduce the number of overdose deaths
Free Resources
Here’s a short video PSA to give you a feel for the campaign.
Like what you see? Interested in more? The good news is that PaStop.org was designed to provide you with online and hard-copy materials to spread the word about the risks of prescription painkillers to your clients and your community. There are brochures, toolkits, and media materials on the website–all for free.
The Time is Right
IRETA is proud to serve on the workgroup that created the Stop Opiate Abuse Campaign. We believe that a widespread public education campaign about prescription painkillers is long overdue.
“Think about tobacco—a big part of the public health effort we’ve seen around cigarettes has been helping people understand the risks of using and how to get help quitting. However, this issue is particularly urgent because opioids can kill you much more quickly than cigarettes,” said Peter Luongo, PhD, Executive Director at IRETA.
He said it’s an issue of basic health literacy.
“Opioid painkillers and heroin are very similar and the use of one can lead to another, but there are medications that can help you recover from opioid addiction and even reverse opioid overdose. Every Pennsylvanian should have this basic knowledge, given how common prescription opioids are in our society.”
