During National Prevention Week, the FSU College of Social Work’s Center for the Study and Promotion of Communities (CFC), Families and Children is hosting a community event about opioid abuse, Friday, May 18 from 8:30-10:30 a.m. at the FSU Alumni Center. Opioid abuse, an epidemic sweeping our nation and our state, impacts every age and social group.  The event is open to interested FSU and local community members.

The event spotlights FSU and Tallahassee community research and services to prevent and fight opioid abuse.  The FSU College of Social Work and Allied Against Opioid Abuse teamed up to sponsor the event, along with collaborators FSU College of Medicine and University Health Services.

Opioid abuse is now among the deadliest health crises in America, with opioid-related overdoses taking on average 44 lives each day. Fueled primarily by a steep rise in prescriptions for addictive pain relievers, the number of deaths from prescribed opioids has quadrupled since 1999. Providers and public health officials are desperately searching for ways to prevent prescription abuse, treat substance abuse disorders, and educate patients – and prescribers – about proper use of this powerful class of drugs. The Opioid Abuse Prevention Research Education event will cover these important issues. Presenters include

• Ellen Piekalkiewicz, CFC Center Director;
• Samantha Goldfarb, Assistant Professor, FSU College of Medicine;
• Amy B. Magnuson, Interim Director, FSU Health Services
• Eugenia Millender, Associate Professor, FSU College of Nursing; and,
• Jean C. Munn, Associate Professor, FSU College of Social Work

The community event is being held during the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration’s (SAMHSA) National Prevention Week (May13-19), an important time of year for schools, communities, and prevention professionals to re-focus on prevention! Adolescents and college students most often misuse substances for the first time in June or July. According to SAMHSA’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health on adolescents and full-time college students.

The timing of National Prevention Week provides for organizations and universities an occasion to raise awareness about this issue among students and their families before the school year ends and summer begins. These are critical periods of social transitions, a risk factor for youth substance use, and an opportunity to develop or strengthen the community, school, and family bonds that protect young people from substance use.

Prevention is important particularly in light of data from the Centers for Disease Control which found that only about 4.4 percent of opioid abuse come from drug dealers, 17.3 percent were directly prescribed by a doctor, and 66.4 percent come from a friend or a relative. So two-thirds of the supply of opioids is leaking directly from prescribers.

“The College of Social Work is pleased to be sponsoring this event to spotlight the important work being conducted at the College of Social Work and across the University on the prevention and treatment of opioids,” said Jim Clark, Dean, College of Social Work. “At this event, we will also be engaging our community-based partners, law enforcement; and Florida A&M University School of Pharmacy to present a big picture of community efforts in the prevention and treatment of opioid abuse,” Clark added.

To register for the event, please use the following link: http://bit.ly/opioidresearcheducation

If you have questions regarding the event, please contact Ellen Piekalkiewicz, epiekalkiewicz@fsu.edu.