Office of the Attorney General
Attorney General Conway & Partners Expand Prescription Drug Abuse Education and Prevention Initiative

At the request of school officials and concerned parents, Attorney General Jack Conway and his partners are expanding a new statewide prescription drug abuse education and prevention initiative. Initially targeting Kentucky high school students, the program will now include middle school students.

"I appreciate the positive response we have received from students, educators and concerned parents across the Commonwealth to our effort to educate Kentucky kids and their parents about the dangers of prescription drug abuse," General Conway said. "One in five teens today is using prescription drugs for non-medical purposes. As Kentucky's Attorney General and as a father, I am alarmed by this statistic. Through this effort, we hope to stop this type of abuse before it starts."

Attorney General Conway's partners in this effort include the Kentucky Justice Cabinet and its Office of Drug Control Policy, Kentucky Pharmacists Association, National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators (NADDI), Operation Unlawful Narcotics Investigations, Treatment and Education (UNITE) and concerned parents Dr. Karen Shay and Lynn Kissick, who both lost daughters to prescription drug overdoses.

In October, General Conway and his partners will launch a series of presentations in middle and high schools across the Commonwealth to warn students about the dangers of prescription drug abuse. The dates for the first events to be held in Northern Kentucky and Lexington will be announced soon.

As part of the outreach, Kentucky high school students have the opportunity to participate in a Public Service Announcement (PSA) competition about the perils of prescription drug abuse. The winner will receive an Apple iPad donated by the Kentucky Pharmacists Association.

"We are now expanding our statewide PSA contest to include middle school students," said Paula York, President of NADDI of Kentucky. "Sadly, this is the age when many children begin using prescription drugs for recreational purposes. Whether they encounter them at school or in their parents' medicine cabinets, we want kids to know that prescription drugs taken without a doctor's order can be deadly."

The winning PSA video in the middle school competition will receive an Apple iPod Touch donated by NADDI of Kentucky. The winning PSAs will also be featured on the Attorney General's website and distributed throughout the Commonwealth.

As part of the statewide initiative, General Conway and his partners will also distribute informational posters to pharmacies and other locations across Kentucky to alert the public to the importance of monitoring and securing prescription drugs in the home and disposing of unneeded medications.

For more information on the prescription drug abuse education initiative as well as the PSA contest, please visit http://ag.ky.gov/rxabuse