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Office of the Attorney General
Attorney General Conway Announces Statewide Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention PSA Contest
Attorney General Jack Conway and his Keep Kentucky Kids Safe partners today announced the start of their annual prescription drug abuse prevention public service announcement (PSA) contest for Kentucky high school students. The competition is part of General Conway's statewide public awareness and education initiative on the dangers of prescription pill addiction.
"Prescription drug abuse is one of the most serious threats facing Kentucky kids today," said General Conway. "Our annual video PSA competition is one of the many ways we are alerting students across the Commonwealth to the devastating consequences of prescription pill abuse."
Attorney General Conway's video PSA competition is held in partnership with the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, the Kentucky Pharmacists Association, National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators (NADDI), Operation UNITE and concerned parents, Dr. Karen Shay and Lynn Kissick.
As part of the competition, Kentucky high school students produce a 30-second video that shows the perils of prescription drug abuse. The first place winner will receive an Apple iPad generously donated by NADDI. The runner-up will receive a $100 Amazon.com gift card donated by the Kentucky Pharmacists Association.
The deadline for submitting a video is December 2, 2011. Winners will be announced on Dec. 14, 2011. Students may submit a PSA for consideration by visiting the Attorney General's Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Page at http://ag.ky.gov/rxabuse.htm
Last year's winning video, "Don't Ruin Your Life," produced by Bardstown High School's John Andrew Stone is available for viewing on the Attorney General's drug abuse prevention. The video by runner-up Heather Workman of Sheldon Clark High School in Inez is also posted online.
"NADDI of Kentucky is pleased to once again partner with Attorney General Conway in raising awareness about prescription drug abuse in Kentucky," said Paula York, President of NADDI of Kentucky. "Whether they encounter them at school or in their parents' medicine cabinets, kids need to know that taking prescription pills that have not been prescribed to them can be deadly."
Keep Kentucky Kids Safe
Since launching the Keep Kentucky Kids Safe program in September 2010, Attorney General Conway and his partners have alerted 5,000 people in nearly a dozen schools across Kentucky to the dangers of prescription pill abuse.
The Keep Kentucky Kids Safe partners launch their fall prescription drug abuse school prevention programs on Thursday, October 13 at 1:30 p.m. at Montgomery County High in Mt. Sterling. Additional programs are scheduled in Richmond, Bowling Green and Louisville.
Prescription Drug Diversion Efforts
In addition to his education and awareness efforts, Attorney General Conway launched Kentucky's first and only statewide Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Task Force in August of 2009. The task force has been involved in more than 130 prescription drug diversion investigations, including Operation Flamingo Road, the state's largest prescription drug bust that resulted in the arrest of more than 500 people.
Last week, Attorney General Conway joined with Gov. Steve Beshear and House Speaker Greg Stumbo in announcing new initiatives to combat the epidemic of prescription drug abuse in Kentucky. The multi-pronged effort includes legislative action to better track prescription drugs and to stop the illegal diversion of pills, licensing and regulation of pain clinics in Kentucky and expanded use of the state's prescription drug monitoring system, KASPER.
In addition to the work being done here in the Commonwealth, Attorney General Conway reached across party lines to work closely with Florida's Attorney General Pam Bondi to ensure that her state implemented an electronic prescription drug monitoring system similar to Kentucky's KASPER system.
The Attorney General's office is also a member of the newly created Interstate Prescription Drug Task Force that is working with neighboring states, like Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia, to shut down the prescription drug pipeline into Kentucky.
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