Community Coalitions

Prescription drug abuse and misuse is a community problem. In order to reduce prescription drug abuse, community attitudes about availability and misuse must change. To prevent the non-medical use of drugs, a shift in the emphasis must be made from individuals to the community as a whole. Communities must identify the environmental conditions that foster prescription drug abuse and use creative strategies to alter those conditions.

Communities are well suited to tackle prescription and over-the-counter drug abuse because they know what works best for their context. A multi-faceted approach that includes public education, policy development, and environmental change can positively impact beliefs, attitudes, and behavior. A variety of community-based prevention tactics can:

• raise awareness and educate youth and adults
• refute myths and misconceptions
• influence attitudes and norms
• suggest or prompt coordinated community action

Focus prevention efforts on the community environment rather than the individual.

Instead of focusing on individual pieces of an issue, environmental prevention strategies draw together prevention workers across fields such as education, medicine, social services, and law enforcement. This model of prevention recognizes that various community groups are interdependent. It strives to engage groups in order to generate a common interest in promoting a healthy, safe, and cost-effective community.

Prescription drug abuse and misuse is a community problem. Making various segments of the community aware of the issue will shine a light on the problem and begin a conversation about how to address the problem. Involving the entire community in efforts to reduce the availability of prescription medication will reduce opportunities for youth to obtain drugs for non-medical use. It will also begin to change youth perceptions that using prescription drugs is an acceptable practice.

Involve young people in your community's existing prevention efforts.

Make a community effort to engage youth and challenge them to participate in analyzing and resolving society's mixed messages regarding over the counter and prescription medications. Young people are in the best position to communicate to policymakers and others the effect of adult attitudes and behaviors. They experience directly the contradiction between ready prescription drug access and perceptions of drug safety on the one hand, and the health and safety messages and strict no-use policies on the other.

Youth participation can include studying and reporting marketing abuses; developing advertising counter-efforts; participating in law enforcement programs; and meeting with and making presentations to policymakers, health professionals, and pharmacists. Schools, parents, government agencies, law enforcement, community coalitions, and neighborhood groups should create avenues for engaging young people.

Before engaging youth, be sure that the conditions are right. Parents and other influential adults must first be educated so teens can feel comfortable asking questions and know where resources can be found if questions arise.